The Wayfarer
by Jolie-B
Summary: Torchwood/Captain Jack Harkness fan fiction. Ianto's birthday will never be an easy day for Jack. Even years later, it still makes that gaping hole in him ache. But things are about to change. Along comes a very peculiar young man who seems to hear the howling of that great emptiness in him.
1. Evan

Sister Abigail Ignatius glided along the hall, drawn by a faint sound, a soft whimper. She carefully opened the door and peered into her charge's room. The five-year-old boy tossed and turned, a soft, strangely lonely sound escaping him.

Poor thing, she thought as she stepped inside and sat on the edge of the bed. Her voice was soft. "Evan?" She very gently brushed the dark curls from his damp brow. "Evan?"

He jerked awake with a sobbing gasp. "Oh! No…." He drew his knees up, hugging them.

"Evan, are you ill?" She felt his forehead, a look of concern on her face.

He looked at her as if he didn't recognize her at first. "Sister Abi…. N… no. I'm not sick. I just… I had a very sad dream." He wiped away the tears on his cheeks with apparent frustration.

"Ah, I see" She smoothed his curls. I wish we didn't have to move him again, she thought. It must be stressing him horribly. "Tell me?"

"I… I don't remember," he lied, voice barely a whisper. He knew a nun wouldn't deal well with what he'd seen. It was naughty in her religion. He held his breath for a moment. "Sister? Did I… do something wrong?"

"Oh, no, dear. You did nothing wrong."

"Then why didn't Ben and Annie want to keep me?"

"Evan, they love you very much." She pulled him into a hug. "But we had to move you to keep all of you safe."

"Oh…." He tried to look like he understood even though he didn't. He could feel that the old nun was very worried for him and he didn't want her to be worried. She had taken care of him from time to time, he knew. His young memory was dim in many places, but she seemed to be a beacon in those times, holding him and soothing him.

"Here," she coaxed. "Lie back down, Evan. You need to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.

He did as she asked, settling back into the bedding. It was only when she was gone that he began to drift off again. As he fell asleep a name passed his lips in a faint whisper.

"Jack…."

Jack Harkness cursed under his breath as the Weevil he was chasing shimmied his way down a sewage grate a half block away from him. It was a fast little bugger, not as bulky as most of the Weevils he'd seen. He had to wonder why the stupid things still hung around on Earth. There had been enough chaotic things going on in the last few decades that a good number of alien races had decided to give this particular speck of spinning rock a wide berth. Still, there were enough to keep him and his current Torchwood team busy.

Gwen caught up with him, a little winded. "Jack?" She puffed a wisp of silver-streaked hair out of her face.

"It's down the grate." He gestured.

"Oh, lovely." She thought for a moment. "Only one way for it to go from that one. Pump station that way, so it'll have to go the other."

"Right." He studied her red face for a moment. "You okay?"

She gave him a rather cross look. "Fine. Let's go."

She took off and he followed her, a faint scowl on his face. He wondered how long it would be before she admitted she was having a hard time keeping up as she got older. He'd started to worry about her. Rhys and Anwen would never forgive him if anything happened to her. But she was more stubborn than he was. He supposed she had to be with a willful teen to handle.

It took them another two hours to round up the Weevil and get him settled in the holding cell. Gwen closed out the report and realized Jack was nowhere to be seen. Their new tech guru, Chris Hathoway gestured absently with a piece of pizza. One hand clutched the food and the other fiddled with whatever odd project he was amusing himself with this week.

"Gone already," he muttered.

He'd only been with them a couple of years and didn't know Jack very well. None of the new team did. Jack was careful to distance himself from them. But the observant tech nerd had noticed that there were particular days of the year when Jack was even more distant than usual. It had only taken digging up certain records to know why. He was glad he didn't believe in ghosts. If he did, he'd be scared to see how long a chain of them Jack Harkness dragged along behind him.

Gwen sighed softly. Then her lips pursed as she noted the date. August 19, Ianto's birthday. She shook her head faintly, chiding herself for not noticing sooner. All these years gone by and still he mourned. She supposed he could, quite literally, mourn forever. He'd be out in the city somewhere drinking himself into a stupor. She'd had half a mind to try and stop him from doing that this year, maybe ask him home to dinner with the family. But, as usual, he'd snuck out before she could nab him.

Evan had showered and gotten dressed without really thinking about it. He'd spent most of the day painting and had originally intended to continue until he passed out from exhaustion. Late in the afternoon, though, he felt the sudden inclination to go out. He had no idea where he was going, though. He hadn't been in Cardiff long, so he still wasn't very well acquainted with it.

Well, he thought, no time like the present for exploring, I suppose.

It was his nature to wander. Here he was 23 years old and a long way from the last foster home he'd been in out in the boonies of Wisconsin. He missed Kaye. She'd been his foster mother for longer than any of the many he'd had. But he had a wanderlust that was extreme. As soon as he'd turned 18, he'd hit the road, roaming all over the Americas. He'd gone home briefly three years back to support Kaye when his foster father, David, had passed away after an accident. She had begged him to stay but, somewhere deep inside, he knew he had to keep moving. He'd been wandering Europe for months now, seemingly pulled in random directions. He lived off of the inheritance David had left him, which was sizable and spit out a good deal of interest every quarter. He supplemented that by selling his art where he could. He sent most of it back to his agent, Jerry Straton, back in the States. It kept him from having to lug it all place to place.

As was the norm for him, he headed off without really thinking of where he might be going. He had a knack for ending up in interesting places just on a whim. So he set out at a leisurely pace, the rubber soles of his beat up lace-up boots thumping quietly on the sidewalk. He carried his messenger bag over one shoulder. It was black with a rainbow-scaled dragon emblazoned across the front flap and contained his sketching supplies, his little tablet computer, phone and some snacks. He meandered on into evening, mind wandering as much as his body did. He would stop now and again to take a photo with his phone or do a quick sketch of things he saw. Close to 10 PM, he looked up to find himself standing in a pool of orange-red glare cast by a sign that read The Drake and showed the faint shape of a fire breathing dragon. It was a pub. A lopsided grin touched his lips. Dragons. They were everywhere and that suited him fine. He liked them.

Well, he mused, I'll take that as my sign to rest a bit before I go back.

He rarely drank. Being a nomad who wandered the streets at all hours of the day and night, it just wasn't safe to have dulled senses. He knew the pub owner wouldn't let him rest there long if he just bought food, though. The food wasn't where their money was in any pub. It was merely a sideline to the booze. So, he decided the fish and chips smelled good enough and order a pint to go with it. He found himself a table off in a corner near the door and began nibbling at his meal. He hung about longer than he had intended to after the meal was done. He was nursing the beer much to the chagrin of the pub owner. The man was giving him dirty looks as more of a crowd wandered in. Normally he would just move along, but something made him hesitate. Something was stirring a vague expectation in him that he couldn't figure out. He felt like he was supposed to wait for something, but what? He'd only just started to wonder when he realized what it was he was waiting for.

Jack strode into The Drake with a purpose and that was to drink until he was numb and perhaps drown his sorrows further in a bit of fun if he was extremely lucky. He was so intent on the first part of that agenda that he didn't even notice the young man off to the left of the door who almost fell off of his stool at the sight of him. He got a whole bottle of vodka and a glass from the bar tender who eyed him suspiciously. He clearly wondered how soon it would be before he had to call the law to remove him. Jack thanked him, promised he wouldn't be a problem and found a seat as isolated as he could get.

Evan's jaw hung open and he stared at the newcomer. It was the same… all of it the same. The hair, the eyes, the lips, the delicate little cleft in the chin. No, he thought. It can't be.

One of the bar girls cleared her throat. "Can I get you anything else, handsome?"

"Uh, oh! Sorry. Um. No, thank you." He felt his cheeks heat and was glad for the dim lighting.

She chuckled softly, following his gaze. "Ah, so that's why you've been ignoring me. Can't blame you. He's definitely very easy on the eyes." She nudged him gently, "You should go talk to him."

He blushed darker. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." She gave him a wink. "You'd make a cute couple."

He took a deep breath, trying to will the redness in his cheeks to fade. Right, he thought. Why would I dream about him if it didn't mean something? But there was a little worm of doubt twisting in his gut. What if he just thought this was the man he'd been dreaming about and he didn't really exist at all? Damn it, if I don't and he walks away, I'll never know.

He took another breath and let it out slowly before tucking his things back into his bag and sliding from his stool. He caught sight of his wind tousled hair in the glass beside him and groaned at himself. He did his best to make himself presentable, smoothing hair and clothes back into some semblance of order. It would have to do. He swallowed a lump that had suddenly crawled into his throat and headed toward the man's table, beer in hand. As he approached, Jack's eyes rose up from the table top and slowly made their way to his face. Looking into those gorgeous eyes, even though he could feel the agonizing pain behind them lapping against his consciousness, made his heart race. They were the same eyes. He had no doubts about it now; those eyes that twinkled with impish light when he was teasing and clouded like a summer sky when he was upset. One eyebrow rose in a question when Evan hesitated.

"Something I can do for you?" His eyes raked over the young man again, appraising. Hmmm, he thought. Not bad. He might do.

"Um, I…." He wished he could slap himself for stammering.

"Have a seat. Your beer's gone warm. I'll get you a fresh one."

Evan sat rather awkwardly. "I… don't really drink much. I bought it because I knew the owner would run me off if I didn't." Oh, God… I sound like an idiot, he thought. And the almost hungry look in Jack's eyes was unhinging him further. It was a weird mix of elation tinged with fear. What if he was just crazy?

There was a faint twitch of amusement on Jack's face. "Okay. What can I get you, then?"

"A Coke?"

He waved the waitress over to order and then studied Evan intently. "What's your name?"

"Evan."

He offered his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm…."

Before he could finish it, the words tumbled from Evan's lips. "Captain Jack Harkness." He managed to bite off the words before "You are Torchwood" managed to get out.

Jack pulled his hand back as if he'd suddenly realized he was about to touch a cobra. His eyes narrowed. "And how do you know my name?" He'd been through enough in the last few decades to make him a little more wary than he once had been.

Evan's eyes dropped and he saw the little brass airplane buttons on the coat Jack still wore despite it being summer. His voice was a little distant. "Even the buttons are the same…."

"Evan." Jack snapped his fingers under his nose making him jump. "How do you know my name?"

"I…I dreamed it."

Jack leaned back in his seat and crosse his arms over his chest. "Okay, who put you up to this? Gwen? Chris? Jules?" He poured himself a generous amount of vodka and guzzled it.

"N… no. I dreamed about you. I really did." The look on his face was almost pleading. He'd never told anyone about the dreams that sometimes made him cry, sometime made him blush. He'd been seeing the joys and sorrows of this man for as far back as he could remember and he had no explanation as to why. Now he feared he was going to be laughed at and it made his gut twist painfully.

Jack's head tilted slightly to one side in confusion. He was decent at reading people and this kid, whoever he was, at least thought he was telling the truth. "So what else have you dreamed about?"

He lowered his voice so that only Jack could hear over the music, eyes on his fingers nervously tracing the wood grain of the table top. "I… know what you do."

"Oh?" Evan nodded slightly. "And what would that be?"

Evan's eyes darted over the crowd. "Not safe to talk about here…."

"You're right." He got up so fast that he startled Evan who cringed a little. "Relax. Do you have somewhere we can go?"

"My hotel…."

"Good." He handed Evan his bag, left money on the table and guided him toward the door.

They were quiet on the ride to the hotel other than Evan telling him which one it was. Jack was familiar, so there was no need for further directions. Evan wanted to talk to him, to ask him questions so he could prove he wasn't just insane. But he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. All he was sure of was that the slightly spicy, warm scent wafting up from Jack and his wonderful coat was making him get a hint of shivery warmth that crept along his skin like static electricity. He caught himself staring at the man's profile, particularly his lips. When Jack cast a questioning glance at him, he blushed furiously. He'd just been forcing down the urge to reach out a finger to trace the lines of those lips.

Oh, my God! He chided himself. What is wrong with me?

Jack just kept driving. It seemed like an eternity to Evan. When they were safely inside his hotel room, Jack's eyes swept the room quickly, noting the neat piles of art supplies. Then, before Evan could utter a word, he was lightly pinned to the wall beside the door. His heart thumped a hard, fast bass against his ribs. The scent of Jack swirling about him made him almost lightheaded and, despite the fear scrabbling in his gut, it started to arouse him. Faint flashes of images from his dreams crept into the edges of his consciousness.

"Now," Jack's voice was soft and smooth as silk, but firm. "What do you know about me, Evan?"

He looked at him with the wide eyes of someone who might be sleepwalking. One hand gently cupped Jack's cheek. "I know you hurt, Jack." He froze under Evan's hand, suddenly looking very uncertain. "It's today. You need this today… so much."

Before Jack could protest, the young man's arms were about his neck and he was kissing him. A soft whisper of sound bubbled up in Evan's throat as he pressed his body closer. Jack's body overrode his brain from there. Logic and consternation be damned, this was one thing he rarely said no to. His coat slid away and so did his shirt. Some part of him was screaming that he was being stupid, but he ignored it under the tender ministrations of Evan's hands and mouth across his torso. Evan was looking up at him, eyes filled with… awe? Wonder? He wasn't sure.

"You smell so good, Jack." His mouth settled over a nipple.

"Pheremones…." It came out in a shivering sigh of breath as he moved them toward the bed.

The very first thing Evan became aware of was the wonderful, spicy scent that clung to his skin and the bed. There was warm sun streaming into the room. It made his eyelids red-gold as he rolled over, seeking the other warmth that should be there: another body in the bed. His brows moved together when he didn't find it. He sat up and looked around his room.

"Jack?" He slid from the bed, not bothering to cover himself. After all, when you've done some of the things he and Jack had done, being naked in front of that person just wasn't embarrassing, was it? He heard nothing. His heart began to sink as he peered into the empty bathroom. He let out a slow breath, leaning against the cool wall and shivering as he raised his hands to breathe that scent in deep again.

I might not ever have that again, he thought. And it was a thought that made him want to curl up and die. Nothing in his life had ever seemed so right and perfect as being with Jack had felt. He breathed in and out, slow, the way he did when he meditated. No, Evan. Just no. You aren't going to tear yourself up. The dreams never showed you what would happen if you ever found him. So you don't know.

In fact, the dreams had been almost like a movie all about the life and times of Captain Jack Harkness in full color, vivid detail though lacking in a soundtrack unless there happened to be music around Jack at any particular time. He shook his head slightly.

Resolved to not mope, he straightened and went through his usual morning routine of getting cleaned up before preparing to head out to hunt up breakfast. It wasn't until he came out, ruffling his night-black curls with a towel, that he noticed his phone was sitting out on the table. Jack had to have gone through his bag. It had been in his bag last night, hadn't it? He snatched it up and turned it on. The screen showed a message.

"You're not off the hook. I'll call you. J." He blinked slowly as he whispered it. Then the corners of his mouth twitched up. "He'll call me. That's something anyway." He paused, wondering what else Jack might have dug out of his bag. A sudden trickle of ill feeling crept along his spine. "Oh, no…."

He pulled the bag up onto the table from the chair and whipped it open. As he feared, his old, leather clad sketch book had been filched from it. It was the one he never showed to anyone, the one he drew the images from his dreams in.

"Shit…." He chewed his lower lip as he got dressed. There was nothing to do for it now. Jack had the book. He would call and Evan would ask for it back. It was simple. Wasn't it?

Gwen glanced over Stephen's report on last night's Weevil victim, but she wasn't really reading it. She was worried. Jack had come in not long after she had arrived at The Hub. That, in itself was a little strange. He usually didn't stay out overnight unless it was for a case. He always came home to roost. She imagined it was the way he kept even his most intimate acquaintances from getting too close these days. He didn't stay with them overnight. Not that it would make much sense for him to anyway. He didn't sleep. But still…. She knew he and Ianto had spent more than one overnight together.

What had troubled her most, though, was the very odd look on his face. He'd looked very out of sorts, the way a man looks when his whole world has gone topsy-turvy and he's not quite sure why. She tapped her foot under her desk for a moment, trying to decide if she could meddle without getting her head bitten off.

"Tea time!" Julianna "Jules" Wilkins appeared with a cardboard holder of cups in one hand and a bag of fragrant pasties in the other. Her cheerful demeanor faltered as she saw the look on Gwen's face. "Oh, you have that dour den mum look, Gwen. Should I be afraid?"

She managed a faint smile. "Only if you've been up to no good."

"I was a good girl while I was out." She wrinkled her nose in amusement as she set Gwen's cup of tea and swede pastie beside her. "I even got Chris his manky old cat soup burger." She pulled a smaller bag out of the larger and tossed it to him. He caught it without looking up. "I don't see how you can eat those nasty things."

He glanced up, peering at her over the top of his console. "Talent." A quirk of a grin touched his lips before he fell upon the hapless sandwich.

Jules set a meat pastie on Gwen's desk as well. "Care to see if you can stir the Captain out of his cave? He passed on breakfast. He's got to be hungry by now."

"Mmm. Will do."

"Wonderful! And I'll be down with the Crypt Keeper."

She smiled as she headed for the gangway that went down into the medical bay where Stephen Latimer held court. She was his assistant, acting as his hands for delicate operations. He'd been a brilliant surgeon once. But then he'd been damaged and his hands had gotten shaky. Jules had been his surgical assistant for a while before that, so it just seemed natural to for Jack to recruit them both and train the girl up a bit. She was rather odd, but there were few people associated with the sort of work they did who weren't. Still, she was just a bit too perky over the autopsy table for Gwen's taste.

Gwen looked at her pastie and then at the one intended for Jack. She debated whether she should eat hers first, then try to get Jack to eat? Or try to get Jack to eat first? She drummed her fingers for a moment. If I was Anwen she was dealing with, she'd walk right up and give her 'the voice which shall not be disobeyed' which, amusingly, worked equally well on Rhys. She doubted Jack would be that easy to cajole. Well, she wasn't above a little unfair use of psychology. She grabbed both pasties and her tea, made a cup of coffee precisely the way Jack liked it and headed up to his office with the whole lot balanced in her hands.

"Jack?" She tapped the door with her foot. "Open up. My hands are full."

In his office, den, well… everything room, Jack was startled out of his thoughts. "Be right there." He very quickly shut the sketchbook he'd been scowling at and set it aside before opening the door. At the sight of the food, he raised an eyebrow. "I… didn't order?"

"The good fairy Jules decided we both need to eat." She slipped past him and set his food in his side of the desk before setting in the other chair.

"Ah. I see." He resisted the urge to let out an exasperated sigh. Jules meant well, she really did. He didn't want to hurt her feelings or Gwen's, so he settled into his chair and took up the cup of coffee. No, he'd hurt Gwen's feelings more than enough running off and abandoning her previously… twice. He did his best not to do it unnecessarily now. Funny how he'd actually started to care about that kind of thing.

"So, how are you, Jack? You seemed a little… out of it this morning?"

"I'm fine. Really." Liar, liar, he thought.

She gave him a look, but said nothing. They ate in silence for a while and her eyes fell upon the leather book on his desk. "What's that?"

"A book." He said it deadpan.

"What sort of book? It looks hand-bound."

"It is. And it's nothing special. Just something I found."

Gwen knew that it wasn't any of Ianto's journals, which might have made sense. Those had been lost in the explosion at the original Hub. But Jack was obviously not going to invite her to look. "Mind if I look at it?" She started to reach for it and froze when his hand moved to cover the book.

"I do, actually."

He was starting to get just a little tinge of cranky in his voice. She redirected her hand to her tea. "Okay." She gave a faint shrug as if it was no big deal, but her gut instincts were giving her a whole chorus of alarm bells. What's got him so wound up, she wondered.

He sensed her unease. "Gwen, stop worrying so much. It's just…." His voice trailed off.

"Ianto's birthday."

He looked a little embarrassed. "Yes. It was." The sympathetic look she gave him almost broke him. "Oh, don't look at me that way. I'm coping."

No, you're not… you're still hiding, she thought. She managed to not say it aloud. "Alright, Jack."

When she finally got the hint that she'd worn thin her welcome and left, he locked the door behind her, clear indicator that he wasn't to be disturbed unless it was of utmost importance. He did that a lot since they'd gotten this new Hub up and running. Gwen wore a look of concern as she went back to the main floor.

"He's in a weirder mood than normal." Chris opined, eyes on his screen.

"That's an understatement…."

Jack leaned back in his chair, eying the book warily. He wasn't sure what to think of it. It was almost full, every page covered in sketches, front and back. Some were small, like doodles in the margins. Others took up a whole page, sometimes two. All were done in a very clean, precise hand in pencil originally. Some had been carefully inked. They all showed things from his own life. There were things in there which no one else should know but him and the person he'd been with at the time. One inked image in particular kept nagging at him. The words 'First Kiss' were neatly written under it with a date. It was the first time he'd kissed Ianto in rather exacting detail. He reached out, flipped the book open to that image and left it open on the desk. He steepled his fingers against his chin as he leaned back again.

How the hell could Evan, a young man he was certain he'd never met before last night, know the things which were in this sketchbook? He'd said 'I know you hurt'. He'd known exactly what Jack needed: to lose himself for a little while in pleasure. He hadn't seemed to care much about his own needs. He had focused entirely on what Jack wanted. That was pretty weird when you considered that he was a total stranger. In Jack's experience, that just wasn't how it worked. Wild flings tended to be all about what you wanted from the other person for the most part. There had been something… eerie about Evan's warm brown eyes, something strangely familiar yet alien at the same moment. All in all, Evan had turned Captain Jack Harkness into a big seething ball of confusion and he was pretty sure he didn't like that at all. He wondered for a moment if he should have Chris research and see what he could dig up on the kid. Maybe he'd find some clue as to what exactly was going on.

Evan glowered at his phone through breakfast, as if he could will the thing to ring. Of course, he couldn't. He sat there for over an hour, pushing eggs around on his plate until they were cold, gooey and totally unappealing. Eventually he just nibbled at his cold, heavily buttered whole grain toast and drank his equally cold coffee.

"Eyes bigger than your stomach, duck?" The waitress was perhaps into her early 50's, a very grandmotherly looking woman with kind eyes. She'd been very nice to him.

"Something like that. I think I'm done." He gave her a rather sheepish apologetic look for the messy plate.

"Well, do try to get something more down later, dearie. No good for a young man to be starving all day, you know."

"I will. I promise." He knew he wouldn't have much choice in that. He'd always had to eat frequently to keep his energy up.

He smiled at her. Something about the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled brought to mind a nun in her black habit. Sister Abi. He hadn't thought about her for a while. He realized he wasn't even sure she was still alive. He was mulling that over as he paid his bill and wandered out onto the sidewalk. He'd left the kind waitress a nice tip.

He turned his face up to the sky. It was a little gloomy, but there was a break in the clouds just overhead at the moment. He sampled the breeze and caught a hint of rain. He hoped it wouldn't rain. He was too restless to go back to his room and he didn't like tromping about in the rain if he didn't have to. Rain in cities always felt… dirty to him. It made him want to go shower after it fell on him because it felt sticky and gross, not fresh the way rain out in the countryside felt. He sighed and headed back toward a park he'd spied which had been teeming with raucous young children behind its wrought iron fencing. He thought he might do some sketching there. That was how he spent a good part of the day. He was walking along with a pastie in hand, trying to decide where he would go next when a voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"Evan."

He couldn't help the smile. "Jack." But it left him when he turned and saw the look on his face. Tension was clear across his lean frame. He took a shaky breath. "You took my sketchbook."

He nodded. "And we need to talk. Come with me."

"Where?" He felt a faint twinge of unease.

Jack tried to not get exasperated. "I'm not going to hurt you, Evan."

"I know. You wouldn't… not on purpose." He studied him for a moment. "Is there hot coffee where we're going?"

Jack snorted softly. "I don't know, Evan, you seem to know me pretty well. What do you think?" That earned him a rather lopsided grin.

Evan scowled faintly as they drove along. He could feel… something getting closer. It was like being in a crowd and having everything everyone around you thought screaming into your skull. It had begun as a low murmur and it was building to a roar. It had started giving him a headache. Torchwood. The Hub. That had to be where they were going. The voices weren't normal. They were… well, alien and hard to push off.

Jack had sent everyone out of The Hub on various missions and errands. The hardest ones to displace had been Chris and Stephen. The rest were more than happy to be running amok in the open air rather than cloistered underground. He led Evan to the hidden entrance, an arm lightly about him as if he expected him to try and bolt. He needn't have worried. Evan was too engrossed in just being close to him, breathing in the scent of him. Still, Evan winced as they began to descend. He felt it when the scans hit him and the alarms shrieked in his ears, echoing through his skull quite painfully. Jack was taken aback. He definitely hadn't expected that. He checked his systems link and saw the warning of "unidentified entity". He shut off the alarms. Evan had backed to the rear of the platform, clutching his head with a pained expression.

"So loud in here," he whispered. "So loud…."

"The alarms are off, Evan." He advanced on him. "How come you set them off?" He was moments away from a total meltdown.

The lift had stopped when the alarms sounded, leaving them halfway to the floor and Evan with no escape unless he could fly. "I don't know why, Jack. I don't know…."

He grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pressing him to the back of the lift. "What are you? Who are you, really?" It was almost a growl.

Evan was actually afraid in that moment. Perhaps he'd been wrong and Jack would purposely hurt him. "Just… an orphan." He couldn't look at Jack's face, at the blazing anger there. "I can't tell you what I don't know, Jack. Please…." He was about to cry and he was ashamed of it. This wasn't going anything like he'd hoped for.

Jack let him go then, stepping back, perilously close to the edge of the lift. "Orphan?" Now he was more suspicious. What else would someone say if they wanted to get at him, worm their way under his skin?

Evan swallowed hard, feeling nauseous. "Yes. I'm an orphan." He rubbed at his temples. "Everything in here is too loud." Alien minds and energies permeated the place and it was overwhelming. It took him several very deep breaths before he could think straight again. "Can we go sit, please?"

Jack was struck by the weariness in his eyes as he looked pleadingly at him. He huffed. "Fine. No funny business." The lift lurched onward.

"I'm not feeling very humorous."

Once they were closed into his office, Jack picked up the sketchbook. "What the hell is all of this?"

"Dreams. I told you, I know you from my dreams. I've been having them as far back as I can remember."

Right. A likely story, groused Jack to himself. "So, you're an orphan who just happens to dream about minute details about my life?"

"Yes."

"Bullshit."

Evan blinked at him, incredulously. "You are a man who can't die who works hunting aliens no one else believes exists, but it's bullshit?" He actually let a soft bark of laughter slip out.

"Yes." Jack crossed his arms over his chest defensively. Then he leaned forward, dropped the book and slapped his palms hard onto the surface of the desk, causing Evan to flinch. "Who do you work for, Evan?!"

"No one, Jack! No one! I swear! I wish I knew what to tell you, but I don't! I don't know anything about where I come from! They found me in a trash bag in a dumpster in the middle of December, covered in blood. No one ever claimed me." Saying it out loud like that just opened the wounds up afresh and that was very clear on his face as he looked at Jack. "That's the truth. Sister Abi told me it was a miracle I lived because someone found me before the trash truck came."

Jack almost cringed. 'Miracle'. He'd come to despise that word. He let out his breath very slowly. This kid was either an award winning actor or he was losing his touch when it came to sizing people up. He was shaken no matter which it was. He looked from Evan to the book and back again. "What do you want from me?" He slumped into his chair, head pounding.

"Nothing."

Now that read as an outright lie. Like most people, he had an easy tell: a look down and left. "I know better. What do you want?"

Evan took a shaky breath. He knew if he blurted out the whole truth, Jack would run so fast there would be no catching him. So… truth by degrees. "I want to help you. I want… somewhere I belong." I want you…. But he didn't dare say it. "I want a chance."

"So, you show up at random, jump into bed with me for… a job?"

"No…. Ugh!" He let his head thump back against the chair. "God, Jack… I'm not a prostitute…."

"Well, how would I know, hmmm? I don't know a damned thing about you." He tapped his fingers on the cover of the book. "And this… this is just downright creepy."

He gave him a sardonic look. "You think I don't know that? Look, I know you have access to things. You can look. The nun who handled my case since I was a baby is named Sister Abigail Ignatious and she works with St. Christopher's Children Services in New York. The last foster parents I had are David and Kaye Wells in Pinastoake, Winsconsin. My name has always had Evan in it, but they changed the last name every time they moved me. They said it was to 'protect' me. I have no idea what they think they're saving me from. I don't think anyone does anymore." He flicked his fingers at Jack's computer. "Go on, look it up."

"Those records can be falsified so easily it's pitiful…."

Evan stood up. "This was a mistake…. Look, if you think I'm here to hurt you, then lock me up down there with the Weevils, Jack. Just don't forget to feed me. I eat a lot."

Jack just looked at him, silence between them for a time. He stood and came around the desk. He moved around him, looking at him from different angles. He stopped in front of him, tilting up his chin and staring into his eyes. They stood like that for a while, barely blinking.

"Jack…." He tried to cup his cheek in his palm, but he pulled back. He sighed softly. "I only know what has already been, Jack. I don't know what's ahead. I know what I want to be ahead…." He blushed. "But that's kind of in your hands."

Jack shook his head slightly, taking another step back. "If you mean what I think you mean, you might not want to hang around. I don't think I can be what you're after."

He gave him a slow blink. "Maybe it's more about me being what you're after, Jack." He closed the gap between them. "Or are you saying you didn't enjoy last night?"

"Oh, I enjoyed last night just fine. But that was before I found your creepy book."

"Oh for…." The words stopped in an exasperated sound.

He was so wrung out that he was beginning to lose what patience he had left. On impulse, he snagged Jack so quickly that he was carried forward as he backpedaled. He had to be fast or he'd be in for a world of hurt. Jack ended up backing around to his own abandoned chair and falling into it. That put Evan in his lap, right where he wanted to be, truth be told. Jack tried to fumble for a weapon, but Evan grabbed his wrists, gently resting them on the arms of the chair.

"Stop," he said softly.

Jack stared into his warm brown eyes, not even sure how the hell this kid had managed to pin his wrists. But he found he didn't want to fight him at all. Somewhere in him, a last little grain of hope flickered. Small as it was, it was powerful. Their eyes stayed lock as Evan closed the distance and kissed him, tenderly first and then more ardently. When he finally broke the contact, Evan was shivering a little.

"Evan…." He was about to tell him to get off of him, but gentle fingers stilled his lips.

"Don't, Jack. You can't tell me you don't feel it. I know you do. You feel how right it is. Everything about you is so wrong, but this… this feels right."

The Doctor had said that… that he was 'just wrong'. Ianto had felt right, too. Just look how that had gone. Now he was really confused. He couldn't think of a single thing to say that made any damned sense. So, he did the only think he could think to do. He kissed Evan again. It lasted a bit longer and Evan had to pull back to breathe.

"I trust you, Jack. If it takes forever for you to trust me, I'm okay with it."

"But…." Again the fingers silenced him.

"David always told me I should live as if tomorrow is my last day on Earth because to do otherwise means you miss out on things you would never otherwise take the risk for. So, consider this the last wish of a man who may… or may not kick off this old dirt clod tomorrow."

Jack just looked at him, nonplussed. "Has anyone ever told you that you may be the weirdest humanoid to ever walk the Earth?"

"I'm an artist, Jack. Of course I'm weird. But, weirder than a Weevil? Really?" He laughed. "I don't think so." He slid from his lap, seeming to be listening to something Jack couldn't hear. "I hope you're ready to explain to the den mother why you have a boy in your room." He blushed a little. "A very excited boy…."

As it turned out, Gwen was stunned that Evan was running loose considering that the sensors had showed him as "unknown entity".

"Jack, what the devil were you thinking bringing him here?!"

"I…."

"Thinking with that other head?"

"Gwe…."

"Oh! You are a piece of work, Jack Harkness!"

Evan was down on the main floor with the others and he winced at Gwen's ranting. "I didn't mean to cause trouble… not like that."

Jules looked incredulous. "Wow. I've never seen Den Mum blow up like that before."

Chris scoffed, eyeing Evan suspiciously. "That's because The Hub's never been breached by an unknown entity before…."

Evan had the good grace to look abashed at that. "Yes, well, I had no idea I was an 'unknown entity', either. It's not as if anyone ever told me. That's the bad thing about being an orphan no one claims. You have no idea who… or what … your parents may be."

Stephen scowled, looking at the results of the blood analysis he'd done. "What is the more apt term on the paternal side. Maternal components are clearly human. The other… well, it's not matching anywhere close to a damned thing we have on the databases." He scratched at the stubble on his cheek absently. "You, dear boy, are a mystery wrapped up in a conundrum."

Jules leaned in whispering conspiratorially. "That's your cue to run for the hills before Stephen turns you into a lab rat."

"Uh… right." He edged a little farther from Stephen, but found the way blocked by the bulk known as Alex Costas who tended to security issues within and without The Hub itself. The rather imposing man had shown up hot on the heels of Gwen and the others, looking none too pleased that Jack had turned off the alarms.

"Oh, relax, Alex. He's not going anywhere. He's much too smitten with the Captain to run off now." She grinned and winked which made Evan blush. Costas grunted softly and didn't appear to relax at all. Jules rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I swear, you take things much too serious."

"And you don't take them seriously enough," was the rumbled reply. "I still say he should be locked down in the cells….."

He was glad Alex wasn't running things. He moved to flop onto a sofa, sighing when he saw that Costas had palmed his gun when he'd moved. Lovely.

"Jack's right, you know. These records I've pulled on him can easily be planted," Chris said.

"You're not helping…." Jules scowled at him and he ducked his head.

"Just saying…." He shrugged.

It seemed a long while before Gwen ran out of steam and came down the stairs. She gave Evan a very tense smile.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that you are going to have to stay here, Evan." He opened his mouth to speak and clamped it shut again at a look from her. "Jack will retrieve your things from the hotel. Alex will set up a special ward for you."

"So… I'm being locked up."

Jules looked horrified. "Gwen… you can't! He's…."

"Not human, Julianna." Gwen cut her off. She only used her full name when she was really agitated.

She hopped off the counter she'd been sitting on. "He's HALF human and that's enough!" She gave Evan an apologetic look. "Sorry, Evan. I guess we don't get a say."

"If we did," Chris said, "I'd be voting for caging him,"

"Oh… knob off, Chris!" She stormed down the stairs to Stephen's laboratory.

With a heavy sigh, Evan held out his wrists. "Just lock me up, please. I don't want to cause more problems."

He had to give Gwen credit, when she said 'ward' she meant something that looked somewhat like a small apartment if you ignored the glass wall. They'd even made sure he had a television and art supplies. All of his electronics save for his little music player had been confiscated. He flopped onto the bed and tucked the ear buds into his ears. He wasn't sure how long he'd dozed down there before a soft tapping on the glass woke him. He rolled his head toward the glass without opening his eyes.

"Come to throw peanuts at the baboon, Jack?"

"No. And how did you know it was me without looking?"

"Your boots make a distinct sound on the gangway. And I can smell your pheromones. Apparently, I'm extremely sensitive to that smell. I wish you would have swiped the hotel sheets for me. Then I could have that scent in here with me all the time. You should bottle it up and sell it. People would go crazy for it"

He didn't mention that Jack thought loud as a Weevil, too. He had decided to keep that little ability to himself if possible. No point making them even more scared. He knew all too well how much people feared telepaths and empaths. Some of the foster parents he'd had clamored for him to be moved when they realized what he could do. So, he'd taken to hiding it most of the time.

"Evan, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here…."

"I came here willingly." He stood and moved to press his palm against a vent hole in the glass. "It's okay, Jack. At least I'll get to see and hear you even if I can't touch you."

A shadow passed over Jack's features for a moment and then was gone. "If we can't figure out what you are, then I'll set it up so you can prove yourself somehow. I promise." He placed his hand over Evan's on his side of the glass.

"I'll take whatever tests can be devised." He sighed. "I wish you could come in here."

"You know I can't. Not yet." Evan just nodded. Jack reached under his coat. "Well, I guess there's no harm in letting you have this back." He opened the hatch in the bottom of the door where food trays normally passed through and slid the sketchbook to him.

Evan picked it up and clutched it to his chest like a baby. "Thank you. It's funny… this, of all things, is my one truly cherished possession. Thank you, Jack. I half thought you might destroy it."

He shook his head." I don't destroy art, not if I can help it. Besides, it's not mine to destroy. It belongs to you."

Evan gave him a wistful smile, then leaned against the glass so his nose was beside a vent hole. He breathed deeply. "I'm a glutton for punishment, teasing myself like this. But, I can't help it."

"We'll figure this out." He turned and retreated down the corridor in a sudden rush.

The whirlwind of emotions boiling off of him made Evan wince a little. Sorry, Jack, he thought. I didn't know it would be like this. He carried the book to the table and set it gently down, running his hands along the worn leather lovingly.

The next several days were absolutely the worst he'd ever had outside of being born. He was poked, prodded, scanned, sampled, and generally fussed with to the point he was getting crabby. Being in his little cage was becoming tiresome. He longed for air, the sky, the sunlight, the trees and, most of all, the low thrum of life moving around him as he wandered. It struck him as odd that he could feel so isolated and yet need that presence of other living things streaming about him. On the fifth day, he balked when Stephen came to take him to the lab.

"I won't go. Not until I get outside for at least an hour."

Jules sighed. "Not going to happen, Evan. I've asked. Sorry."

She really was. He could feel that much. Something in him felt like it was stretching in his skin, rolling about restlessly. He shivered a little. She and Jack had really been his only company. He didn't really count the others because they interacted with him on a strictly professional level. Jules and Jack actually talked to him like a human being.

"Are you well?" Stephen looked concerned.

"I… I think so?"

He really wasn't so sure. Last night he'd felt like his skin was trying to crawl off of him and had woken up sweating and disoriented. Jack had been standing at the glass, watching him with a mixture of concern and confusion. He'd slipped some chocolate to him, told him to try and relax and been gone again. He did that a lot. He came and went, apparently uncomfortable staying long at the glass.

Having no real options, he went with Stephen and Jules. They took more blood, hooked him up to more machines. One of them had so much magnetic force it made him vomit. To him it was like being able to feel every little fleck of iron in his blood spinning around. Stephen took pity on him then and let him go back to his ward. He hadn't wanted to cry so badly since he was a little boy. But he wouldn't. He refused.

Stephen compiled his data, shaking his head with a huff. He'd done every blessed thing he was capable of doing short of dissecting the boy and still he had no clue what exactly made the other half of the hybridization. He pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. Jules put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll figure it out." She scowled. "I don't see why we have to keep him locked up. He won't hurt us. We're not sure exactly how Jack ticks and we don't lock him up, do we?"

"Oh, but they did originally. Victorian era Torchwood was not nearly as… civilized as we tend to be. They used to kill any alien that caused trouble back in the day."

"Barbaric." She spat the word like a curse. She scowled as a series of Weevil moans echoed up from the detention area. "You know, I don't think they like having him down there. I noticed that when we take him past their cells, all the Weevils cower back against the walls."

"Mmm. I've noticed, too. They're sensitive to flux in space and time. Evan generates that sort of disruption. I think that's what's making it so damned difficult to reach a conclusion. This may be beyond what we have here."

There were certain issues with being separate from the rest of Torchwood. Though Jack and Gwen had managed to get the declaration of their deaths reversed, they were still viewed rather unfavorably. That meant they didn't always have access to the top cleared technology unless they begged and borrowed or, in some cases, stole it.

Jules gathered up all of their data. "Well, let's go give your recommendation."

He nodded and followed her up to the meeting room. Jack was already there, his fingers laced before him on the table, thumbs tapping together. He looked up as everyone started to file in.

I don't care what they say, today. This isn't a damned democracy. I'm head of this unit and they'll do what I say or I'll replace every last one, fumed Jack silently. His face remained carefully placid. I know Evan isn't a threat. We can't keep him caged like that. Over the days, he'd watched him deteriorate and that, more than anything else, was eating at him.

Gwen wasn't fooled by his outward calm. She saw that telling little crease between his eyes that said he was shoving down a lot of anger and upset. "We're just waiting on…."

"Me," huffed Chris as he rushed in and flopped into a chair.

"Alright. Stephen?"

He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm afraid I'm no closer today than I have been. The only thing I've been able to verify with certainty is that his brain activity is off the recordable ranges and his metabolic rate is nothing short of impossible, which is why he eats so much. Everything else I've tried comes back inconclusive. Frankly, I'm running out of options outside of… dissection."

"And that is not going to be done. Am I clear on that?" There was a bit of threat in Jack's voice.

"Perfectly. I didn't intend it." Stephen was a little taken aback by Jack's tone. I swear this has been a difficult for him as it has been for the boy, he thought.

Jules had been holding her tongue beside him, but she just couldn't do it anymore. "Look, the only ones who really do anything other than poke, prod or research Evan are Jack and I. No one else has bothered to really even talk to him other than to try and interrogate him." She shot Alex a dirty look and he smirked. "He's really very nice."

"Which is exactly what he'd want us to think," huffed Alex.

"I have real problems with someone whose parents can't be traced," said Chris. "The father could be… anything. For all we know he could be some sort of sleeper assassin or something. It's happened before."

Jack let them talk and debate back and forth for a few minutes before standing up. "File all of your reports. Your recommendations will be noted. However, the decision is ultimately mine."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Jack…."

He held up a finger. "No. My decision. And I'll take full responsibility if I'm wrong. Clear?" He looked each of them in the eyes and all they could do was stare at him. "Right. " He strode from the room, headed for the detention level.

Chris shook his head. "He'll get us all killed some day."

Gwen closed her eyes, rubbing at her face. "Unfortunately, that's probably as accurate a statement as anyone could make about Captain Jack Harkness."

"Well," Jules piped up, "at least it's bound to be loads more interesting than croaking out in some old fogy home."

Chris blinked owlishly at her and chuckled. "You are certifiable…."

"Yes, well, we already knew that, didn't we?" She reached over and pinched his cheek saucily before going to follow Jack.

Evan was waiting at the glass when he got there. "Jack?"

He let out a huff of breath. "Don't prove me wrong, Evan. I'm letting you out." He input the code and the glass slid up. Before he could so much as blink, Evan had his arms around him and was kissing him.

A bubbly laugh at the end of the corridor broke into their reunion. Jules was beaming. "Aww. See? He's just sweet as honey. Welcome back to the free world, Evan."

Evan blushed. "Thanks, Jules." His eyes went back to Jack. "I can go outside?"

Jack had never seen a more effective pair of puppy dog eyes. "Yes. It's night, though."

"I don't care. Come with me?"

"Sure." He pointedly ignored the looks the others shot each other as he walked up with his arm lightly on Evan's shoulders.

When they stepped outside, Evan took several deep breaths, savoring the cool air that stirred through his hair. "I need to walk. I remember a park…."

"This way." Jack gently guided him along in the right direction.

They walked in silence a while. "Jack, why did you let me out? We still have no idea what I am…."

"Because you were starting to go crazy down there and I couldn't stand it anymore." He didn't look at him.

They had reached the edge of a pond in the park and Evan stopped him by leaning lightly against him. "Thank you."

"So, what now?"

"I don't know. Can I have a few days to think about it?" Jack nodded, a bit of wariness coloring his thoughts. "I'm not going anywhere, Jack." He made him look at him. "I'm not leaving. I just need to figure out some things… like living arrangements."

"That's easy. Stay with me."

"I… suppose I could for now. No offense, but I really don't want to live underground forever. I need… this." He opened his arms to indicate the air, the world, everything.

Jack nodded. "What skills do you have, Evan?"

He chewed his lip. "I have some… psychic abilities. Psychometry, really. I can 'read' objects. I suppose the dreams count as something, but they're not premonitions or anything as far as I can tell. At least, I don't remember having any dreams that come true after I have them. I can file and write reports, cook and clean, wash laundry and that sort of thing. Kaye believed I should be self-sufficient as much as possible, so she taught me a lot of domestic things. I could probably learn anything you need as long as it isn't too steeped in math and complex technology." He shrugged a little. "I'm… open to possibilities and opportunities." He pressed close against Jack, wrapping his arms around his waist. "Can we go convince them that I'm not going to eat anyone's face or anything so they'll go home and give us some privacy?"

Jack chuckled softly. "You're shy?"

He blushed. "Yes, I am. I can't help it. Reserve is a by-product of being around a bunch of nuns as a child, okay?"

"Ah, I see. So… I shouldn't do things like this, when other people are around?" He groped his butt.

Evan laughed. "No."

"How about this?" He slid the hand around toward the front, making him yelp.

"Jack! I won't be able to walk if you do that…."

He grinned devilishly. "I could carry you back."

"Um… no."

Jack mock pouted. "Oh, fine, spoil my fun then."

It hadn't been many days, but Jack had come to a realization in that short time that made him happy and nervous at the same time. Evan was right. It did feel so very right to be with him. He just had to make sure he never broke a very important promise.


	2. Taking Care of Business

Evan adored spending time with Jack no matter what they were doing, but there were sometimes long stretches where the privacy he craved was virtually nonexistent. In the months since his arrival at The Hub, things seemed to be picking up. He had started out handling support tasks, things like making sure inventory was accounted for and making sure food was waiting for the teams when they needed it. He also made sure everything was as tidy as a rag-tag underground facility could be. Jules often helped him. She and Stephen weren't great with firearms, so they often held down the fort. Jack kept threatening to have Gwen train the three of them up.

He had actually been called into the field twice in the last week. There was something slithering into people's apartments in the night and taking them away. He'd been able to pick up an impression of it, enough make a sketch, confirm that the two cases were related and allow Stephen and Jack to identify it as tamarkat, a nasty little morphic creature that sometimes clung to the hulls of ships in order to travel between planets. They would basically jump off close to a planet so they would be pulled to the surface. Their natural form made Evan shudder. It looked like a cross between a slug and one of those monster, knobby crabs from the Arctic circle. Jack was working up to him "proving" himself. Jules trusted him. Stephen was almost to the point of trusting him. Jack trusted him. Gwen and Alex… well, they were very much against arming him and were very tense any time they had to go anywhere with him. Chris was Chris, but he seemed to be listening to Jules a bit more about him being a good person. Jack said he wouldn't rest until they at least quit looking at him as a threat.

This particular night, though, Jack was tied up trying to find out where exactly the tamarkat was nesting. He was at The Hub with Stephen and Jules on the watch and ready for any casualties even though Jack had assured them that once they found the nest, it would be an easy grab. Evan had finished all the work he could and sat at the central desk on the main floor, bored out of his mind.

Jules came clomping up the gangway from the lab areas in her thick-soled boots. He glanced up and couldn't help grinning at today's outfit again. She was such an odd young woman. Given the rather casual dress code of Torchwood under Jack's leadership, she'd decided there was no need to be in hospital type uniforms any longer. So she came in dressed as she normally dressed: a little Goth, a little geek girl, a little anime fan. Today's outfit had a purple jumper with a tutu-like skirt of mixed green and black over a white button-up blouse. Lime green and black leggings were set off by her big black boots stenciled with pinkish flames. Her hair was crimped with varying shades of pink and purple and she had a little black collar with green jewels about her neck. On most people, her style would have been nothing short of ridiculous but, on her, it actually worked.

"You look as bored as I am, Evan."

"Yeah. I've already performed equipment maintenance routines, verified inventory, cleaned the cell block and the gym area and tidied up Jack's desk today."

She snickered. "Braver soul than me trying to tidy that mess."

"I imagine he'll chew me out for it." He shrugged. Jack could be a bit odd about his belongings being moved. Yet, on other days, he didn't seem to care.

Just then, the alarms sounded, the portal opened and Alex, Jack and Gwen stepped onto the lift. "Honey, we're home!" called Jack. Gwen and Alex both rolled their eyes as they held a wriggling leathery sac between them. "I was right. It was bulking up for its pupal stage."

"Good! So, that means Stephen and I can go then, right?" Jules looked hopeful as they descended.

"Soon as you process in our new guest," said Gwen as they stepped onto the main deck.

She made a face. "Right. Well, bring it down then." She led the way as she, Gwen and Alex headed on to the lower levels.

When they were all below, Evan moved to kiss Jack. "Glad it was easy." He smiled and lowered his voice so it wouldn't carry. "That means I get to have you to myself for a while."

Jack waggled his eyebrows. "Sounds good to me." He kept an arm around him as they headed up to his office.

"Jack, reports." Gwen had come back up and was giving him a rather pointed look.

He answered with an exaggerated pout. "Yes, Mommy."

Had she been closer, Evan knew, she would have swatted him playfully. He looked amused. "Go get started and I'll bring you some coffee. Did you want some, Gwen?"

"No, no thank you. I appreciate the thought, though."

That earned her a smile. He could tell she was finally starting to warm to him. It probably didn't hurt that having him there took a lot of the little, annoying duties off of her list of things she had to ensure were done. He was efficient if nothing else and he took the initiative, doing things before he was told to do them. Perhaps the sketch he'd done of her family for her hadn't hurt, either. He took Jack his coffee and settled on the sofa that took up one wall of his space. He pulled out his satchel and retrieved his tablet computer to amuse himself while he waited. Soon enough the creature was secure, reports were filed and Jack initiated full night mode for The Hub after everyone else cleared out.

"Now, let's see," mused Jack as he stood and slid his suspenders from his shoulders. "Where to start?"

Evan shivered slightly at the look in his eyes and the upswing of pheromones that wafted out from him. It was a little scary at times the way Jack affected him, but it was exhilarating at the same time. He stood up and started helping Jack undress. "I like starting with a kiss." He kissed him passionately and it lasted until they both had to come up for air.

Jack grinned, breathless. "That's a good start…." He'd been divested of his shirt and made short work of Evan's as they kissed. He made a soft sound as Evan pressed close and nibbled at his neck, one warm hand trailing down his belly. "Oh, yeah… good start…."

No one was surprised to see Evan already there in the morning. On the nights when Jack took the overnight watch, it was becoming something of a routine for Evan to stay with him even though Jules had helped him find a warehouse nearby that he was in the process of converting into a combination of living and studio space. He kept spare clothes and things up in Jack's office.

When Jules arrived, she smiled. "Morning. I brought pastry and chocolate milk for you. I know how much you like it."

"Thanks. I've got coffee made."

"Just make sure you get a proper meal some point."

She winked as she went to the break room to set out her pastries and get some coffee. She was wearing tight jeans and a t-shirt with some J-Pop star on it in a riot of colors. The most outrageous parts of the day's look were the bright pink Doc Marten's and the sky blue hair, straight and brushing her shoulders. He figured she must have a whole motley collection of wigs and hair pieces as often as the colors and styles changed.

He went up the stairs to Jack's office. Jack had his back to the door as he finished dressing.

"I smell my special brew." He smiled.

"Of course. Jules brought pastries. Should I go snag you the cream one?"

"Do Daleks have tentacles?"

"Uh… I don't know?"

Jack chuckled. "Oh, right. Yes. Yes, they do and, yes, you should."

"Do you think Gwen will ever agree to let me start studying the databases?"

"Eventually." He kissed him. "But for now, your mission is to go snag me that pastry." He swatted his butt.

Evan snorted and shook his head. "You're horrible."

"And you enjoy it." Evan stuck his tongue out. "And you shouldn't be sticking that out unless you plan to use it."

"Didn't you get enough of that last night?"

"No such thing as enough when it comes to that." He waggled his eyebrows and waved his hands indicating he should get on with his mission.

Evan was laughing as he headed down to the break room. Jules was already downstairs in the labs, bringing systems up to day mode if the increased hum of electronics was any indication. He quickly snagged the pastry for Jack.

"Damn. He always gets the cream one." Chris was in the doorway as he turned.

" Boss' prerogative." He shrugged apologetically. "Though… I'm sure if you let Jules know you like them, too, she'd bring extras."

"Right. I doubt it. Why would she do anything nice for me?" He ran his hand through his spiky hair.

"Because she's just that way." He wanted so badly to tell him he ought to tell Jules he liked her, but that would mean having to explain how he knew that. Chris, so far, had been careful to hide the attraction. Only Gwen even suspected and that was likely only because she'd done the whole love and marriage thing already and had a teen-aged daughter. "Tell her. I'll bet you a Super Supreme from Enzio's that, if you tell her, the next time she brings pastries there will be extra cream ones."

He smirked. "If I'm right, you owe me some work, art boy."

Evan smiled. "Deal." He extended his hand and Chris shook it.

"You're wrong, though. She won't"

"We'll see." He clapped him on the shoulder before he headed back up. Back in the office, he saluted jauntily. "Your pastry, Captain."

"You know, maybe we should get you a nice uniform. My soldier loves saluting men in uniform." He looked him up and down, contemplating. His pheromone output started to creep up a bit.

"Jack!" Evan made an incredulous face. "Office time? Remember?"

"Oh, yeah… right… that." He gave an overly exasperated sigh.

Evan snickered and shook his head. "We'll discuss it later. I have work to do, too." He headed back out before Jack could be tempted to postpone the office day.

"Figured you'd already be here, Evan. Good. I thought I might start training up Jules and you on the firing range today."

He blinked and then a huge smile lit up his face. "Really?"

"Don't go looking so happy. You'll not be issued a firearm until you can pass a trial with no less than a ninety percent accuracy rating. And then we'll trial you in the field a bit, first. Then, if and only if the whole team feels safe entrusting their lives to you, we'll consider putting you on as a full team member capable of participating in any run necessary. This is just a step in a process."

"I know, but it's a start." He was still beaming.

She made a soft scoffing sound. "Go tell Jules not to get too attached to her machines today, hmmm?"

"Right." He hurried off down the gangway.

"You just made his cartoon." Jack leaned against the door frame with his coffee in hand and smiled. "And mine."

"I'm not electing him employee of the year, Jack. But… you've done a good job finding team members before and he seems to catch onto things fast. So, I'll give the lad a chance… provided you don't distract him from his studies too much, Captain." She gave him a wry look.

"Moi? Distracting? Am I really?" He struck a pose in the doorway.

"Oh, go get the range set up, you mad man." Her huff was half laugh.

He and Gwen had agreed that, when they began rebuilding the team, they wanted a very cohesive unit. They had agreed that leadership choices would be shared between them and that, within reason, existing team members would have some sort of say in who joined since those new members might some day hold their lives in their hands. He honestly preferred sharing leadership after everything he'd been through with the last team. Deep down he felt like most of it had been his fault, bred of chains of poor decisions. It seemed like when he was the one making the decisions, people dropped dead too quickly. People flashed through his life too quickly for his tastes as it was without adding that factor in. He headed down to the area they'd designated as a firing range and armory and made short work of getting the weapons and targets ready. He'd stay and help. He'd done a good job training up Gwen, after all.

He figured he could do the same for Evan. He'd already taught him a few things, though those had been in bed. He sighed ruefully. Evan... He couldn't exactly say what it was about him that drew him so. Evan seemed more influenced by and aware of the 51st century pheromones than most people were. Though he was a little reserved and shy in public, he was definitely not reserved in private. Energetic. That was a good word for Evan in private. Insatiable. That was another. Flexible… and tasty.

Focus, Jack. Work to do. He had to laugh at himself mooning and distracted like a hormonal teenager. He definitely hadn't felt like that in a while. He had to wonder if his mind was starting to get dodgy with age already. Nah. No way. It had to be Evan's creativity. The kid was creatively brilliant. Maybe that was it. Come to think of it, the last time he'd felt all moony like this was when The Doctor and Rose had crossed his path. Maybe that was it? Maybe it was the creative mind hooked into a good looking body that got him? Ianto had eventually made him feel something like this, but it had taken time because he'd been resisting it. With Evan, though, he seemed to have no resistance to it at all.

"Honestly, Jack. Is your mind ever not dirty? I can smell your pheromones all the way up on the next level." Evan chuckled as he came down. "They always increase when you're thinking naughty thoughts."

"Almost never." He shook his head slightly. Really keen sense of smell on that boy. "Come on, let's get you started on basic gun safety."

By the time Gwen arrived with Jules, he knew the parts of the gun and how they worked and how to safely handle it. As Jack suspected he would, he picked it up fast, almost as if he was picking it from his brain. The rules part he got quickly anyway. The physical training part took a bit longer, but not much. He definitely caught on more quickly than Jules who, for someone who supposedly had such steady hands, was a fairly lousy shot.

"Relax, Jules. You're too tense." Gwen told her.

"Sorry, but it's hard for me to relax when I'm holding something that can kill people. I trained as a medic, not an assassin, Gwen."

"Some day this might save your life or someone else's by eliminating a threat. You don't necessarily have to shoot to kill. Sometimes disabling will do."

Evan actually hadn't even thought too much about the killing part. He was just eager to be able to go on missions with Jack, to get out of the underground confines of The Hub now and again, to learn more, to do more than be an errand boy. He could feel that Jules was honestly disturbed by the thought. He wondered what that said about him. He had thought only about how he could benefit by learning the skill. No worries about possibly killing another living being. He supposed that, as Gwen said, he figured if he was a good enough shot, he wouldn't have to kill. He'd be able to disable just as effectively.

"Evan…." Jack moved behind him, correcting his stance. "Concentrate."

Right. Surround me with your scent and then tell me to concentrate. That's nice. "Sorry." He took a slow breath to focus himself, tightening his thoughts down to firing. He let the breath out slowly as Jack let go of him and squeezed three shots. Two were off, one on each side halfway to the edge of the black. The third, though, that one was dead center.

"Better."

"Still well below requirement," commented Gwen as she adjusted Jules' stance.

Evan blew out a soft huff and reloaded his clip. Below requirement. Not for long….

He was still below requirement when Gwen and Jack called a halt because both of their students were getting stiff and sore from the repeated and unfamiliar shooting stances.

"Right. I think that's enough for today. Go get lunch, you two." Gwen made a shooing motion.

"Lunch is a good plan for all of us," Jack corrected.

"Of course." If Rhys found out she was skipping meals he'd be immensely peeved.

He grinned and caught Evan's arm as they headed up. "Lunch at your place?

"Sure." He knew that meant a bit of a romp before the meal. He could certainly use a little loosening up. "As long as you give me a massage before we come back."

Jack leaned his head in, voice soft. "Inside and out."

Behind them, Jules stifled a snicker.

"Jack…." Evan blushed dark.

Even Gwen had to chuckle. Whatever it was that held Jack in fascination of this young man, she had to admit that she hadn't seen him smile this much since before Ianto's death. He was almost back to his old self… almost.

Maybe he would never really be the Jack she knew ever again. While he still had the cavalier attitude glazing the surface, there was a deep, lingering sorrow behind his eyes. He'd gotten a little crease between his brows from them being drawn down so much. She sighed as she cleared away the equipment. Maybe Evan would help him shake that darkness. One could hope.


	3. A Song of Peace and New Recruits

It had taken over a year, but Evan had finally converted the warehouse into a decent living and work space. The majority of the upper floor of the warehouse consisted of a well equipped kitchen and roomy studio space. The rest was an airy bedroom and living space. He liked keeping the high crank windows open to the air. The downstairs rental studios were also coming together nicely. Soon, he'd be ready to start renting them to some of the local artists he'd met at various events. The roof was slowly turning into a lovely garden. He loved to be up there at night, flat on his back just gazing up at the sky. He just wished there wasn't so much light bleed from the city hiding the stars.

With his loft finished, he'd invited Jack to come to dinner to celebrate. He was softly smiling as he chopped up vegetables. He had more than the loft to be happy about. He'd also finally passed his firearms qualification. He was now on official rotation as a full team member. Alex had been the last to cave in and he'd done so grudgingly. But he had and that was all that mattered. Evan heard the lift kick on and knew Jack had arrived. He'd only given Jack and Gwen the keys to the place in case of emergencies. He had the third set.

He came into the loft in a swirl of coat and pheromones. "Hey, sexy. Whatever's for dinner smells damned good." He leaned in and kissed Evan's cheek.

"Hey, when you sit the watch all the time and run out of things to do, Food Network is good study material." He smiled. He loved cooking, especially when he could share it with his friends. "It'll be ready in about twenty once I finish the salad."

"Rabbit food?" Jack made a face.

"Not just rabbit food." Evan chuckled. "Besides, you'll want all of these beautiful vitamins tonight."

Jack rested his chin on his shoulder, grinning. "Promise?"

He paused his chopping long enough to turn his head and have a kiss. "I promise."

"I brought the wine so it's a proper celebration." He pulled back to set the bag he carried on the large center island and take off his coat.

"Ah, good." He finished the chopping and swept the vegetables into the bowl with the rest before tossing them together. He turned to face Jack and smiled. "Look at you. All dressed up just for me?"

He had dressed up a little: nice shirt, dress slacks, brocade fronted vest and smartly shined shoes. "Special occasion." He grinned. "I thought I'd give you a present to unwrap."

"I do love a good present." He hugged him, breathing in that enticing scent. It always filled him with a sense of ease and comfort as well as desire. Jack tilted his chin up, fingertips touching the edges of his smile. There was a wistful look on his face. "What?"

Jack seemed to shake himself out of a reverie. "Nothing. You just have a gorgeous smile."

"I'm not the only one." He kissed him. "Come on, Let's crack that wine, hmm?"

They spent the evening enjoying both the meal and each other. After dinner, they cuddled up on the sofa listening to music as cool air swirled down from the open windows. Evan smiled as "Moonlight Serenade" began to play.

"I love this song." Jack breathed the words across his ear.

"I know." He took up Jack's hand from where it rested on his belly and kissed his fingers.

Jack shifted. "Dance with me."

"Okay."

He slid to his feet and Jack moved him to the open space in front of the fireplace. They moved together and Evan felt like he was drowning in Jack's eyes. By the end of the song, they were back on the sofa, undressing and caressing one another. It wasn't just sex; it was slow, tender and passionate. At the end, they were tangled together and sated, both smiling.

"That's was…." Jack's words trailed off in a slow exhalation.

"Amazing." Evan nuzzled his neck gently.

"Yes."

I love him. I do, thought Evan. I don't want to hide from him anymore.

He knew that Jack didn't sleep when they were together. He would lie there awake all night. Gwen had said Jack didn't sleep at all as far as she knew. It seemed to be part of his immortality. But Evan knew why he didn't sleep. He breathed in their combined scent deeply and considered for several long moments.

"Jack?"

"Mmm?"

"You never sleep. Is it because you just don't, can't or won't?"

Jack closed his eyes, brows drawing together. "There's a difference?"

"Yes, there is." He looked at him expectantly. Jack let out a long sigh. "It's dreams isn't it?"

He didn't look at him. "Bad memories…."

"Have you ever considered that not sleeping is harming you? The theory is that not sleeping can drive a person crazy over the long term."

"Drive me crazy? Too late for that." He smirked

Evan caressed his cheek gently. "Jack, what if… what if I could help you sleep without all of that?"

Jack looked at him in confusion. "How?"

This is it. Time to come clean. He wound his mind carefully into Jack's. _Like this._

Jack startled, trying to pull away. "You… you're a telepath?"

Evan held him. _Jack, please, don't pull away._

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Evan took a shivery breath. _Think about it, Jack. How weird are people about feeling like someone is picking their brains? _

"Very. They mostly don't realize that being in their heads is the last thing you want." He settled back down, unable to bear the hurt that pulling away had put on Evan's face.

_Don't tell anyone? Please?_

He took a deep breath. "I won't. I promise."

Evan relaxed visibly. _Let me try to help you. I think I can. Trust me?_

Jack stroked his dark curls gently, swallowing visibly. "I do trust you."

Evan shifted to his back, pulling Jack with him until his head rested on his chest. _Then breathe deep. Relax. Listen to my heart, Jack. Let me sing you to sleep._

It was instinct, really. There was a wordless song in him with a deep chiming heartbeat that ebbed and flowed like a great tide. It seemed to him that it had always been there. He let it drift upward and bleed across to Jack's mind. Jack took a sharp breath and fought the urge to pull away. In moments he no longer wished to pull away. He felt peace begin to fill him, warm and sweet like hot cocoa being poured into a long unused mug. He'd never felt anything like it. It encompassed him, filled every sense and every pore. Soon enough it felt like floating in a warm, calm sea with Evan's arm's wrapped around him protectively, keeping away the dark things that crawled in his consciousness. All around them was a vast, velvety, sparkling place which sang in harmony with Evan. Soon he was sound asleep and Evan's lips curled into a soft smile, the song continuing its soft thrum between them.

"I love you, Jack." He whispered the words into Jack's hair with a gentle kiss.

Evan was awake long before Jack was. He absently stroked Jack's hair as he watched him sleep peacefully. He knew that, while he had also slept, he had kept the darkness that had made Jack afraid to sleep at bay. In time, he could feel Jack floating back up from the depths of his slumber. His eyes fluttered open and he looked a little confused at first.

"I… I slept. I slept through the night." Evan just smiled, brown eyes seeming to almost glow in the sunlight streaming down from the high windows. He let out an amused huff of breath that tickled across his lover's bare skin. "It's weird. I'm usually the one with someone waking up on my chest."

Evan caught him as he tried to shift himself up and kissed him quite tenderly. _I don't mind. I like having you for my blanket._

Jack felt a bit of heat in his cheeks and blinked in surprise. How long had it been since he'd last blushed? He honestly had no idea. He willed it to go away. "You should have told me."

He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. _I couldn't risk it, couldn't risk you sending me away. This is…. _He looked at him again. _It's the first time I've ever truly felt like I belonged, Jack. When I was in the care system, two of the couples sent me back. They said I scared them. After that, I took to hiding things. They never treated me badly but… I was never like them and I knew it._

Jack deftly shifted them on the wide seat of the sofa so that Evan was on his chest. He hugged him almost fiercely. "It's okay. I'm not angry. And I'm not afraid."

Evan had to blink back tears. _Thank you, Jack._

"No," he whispered. "Thank you."

* * *

Jack had found a new team member. Her name was Keri Anne Brubacher. She was on the short side, only five foot six. She had been in the military and done two years private security for a celebrity in the States. She was, Evan thought, easily classified as prickly. She had definite attitude. Alex was in a snit over it. He'd been down for days from being shot in the shoulder in the weeks before she'd been recruited, though; so he didn't have a lot of room to gripe. Despite all of his grumbling that he didn't need a partner, he had one. She amused the hell out of Jack with her lip. The little spark of attraction Jack had felt for her had, thankfully, just been one of his flash-in-the-pan notions and faded after a couple of good romps. Evan didn't hold it against him. The flirting thing had been so habitual for so long that he really didn't think about it until it was too late. He knew that he was the one who sang Jack to sleep at night. That was all that mattered.

Evan wasn't sure yet whether he liked Keri as a person or not yet. She could be downright rude and abrasive at times. But he had to admit, she was damned close to beating Jack on the firing range. She was a hell of a shot. He supposed if he could pick who would cover him in a fire fight it would be her or Jack or both. Gritty as she might be, she was good at her job and no-nonsense. On a great day, he'd have Gwen watching his back, too. The only reason he didn't immediately add her to the wish list was the fact that she had a family.

Keri was in the back of the SUV, arms over her chest as Chris watched a laptop beside her. Evan could feel the impatience looming around her. Her fingers drummed on her forearm. Chris glanced sideways at her and then back to the screen.

"Uh, left ahead, Jack." They were moving in on a con-man who had been trading in illegal technology. They'd tagged a morsel too tasty for him to pass by. "That building there, third floor." Chris leaned toward the window to look up.

"Okay. This should be relatively…."

Evan whipped out a hand and pressed two fingers to his lips.

"No. Not letting you curse this one, Jack. I'd love to have dinner before 2 AM."

Chris snickered and Jack gave Evan a look. "Anyway. Let's round him up. We have more than enough evidence to extradite him."

Apparently not even finishing the sentence was enough to activate what seemed to be Jack's curse lately. Any time he thought something would go easily, it absolutely didn't. Con-man Jasaphon Talbus Phoss saw them coming and went out a window. Jack and Evan had no choice but to give chase and Keri joined in from her spot in the alleyway. As they rounded the corner, they were unaware that someone else was in the middle of a chase in the area as well. Keri had managed to pull ahead, incredibly fast for someone with such short legs. She let out a yelp as she managed to dodge the first man who burst around the corner. She wasn't so lucky with the second.

"Ow! Sorry about that!" He called as their shoulders struck and she was almost knocked from her feet. She hardly missed a beat despite the impact. Evan saw him grin as his eyes flicked to Jack on the way past. "Jack! Fancy meeting you here! Hang on a moment!" He also noted a rather stunned look on Jack's face as the man barreled past.

He sank down into a low firing stance, his free hand flung back for balance as he slid on the wet pavement. He hadn't even stopped moving when the weapon in his other hand let out a low "WHOOMPH!" A rippling ring issued from the weapon and sped at his target's back, sending the man sprawling into a heap that bounced twice and then halted. The lanky gunman hopped upright and strode quickly to the man, looking rather peeved. One heavy soled boot swung out and struck him in the ass.

"Never run from a cephalopod, idiot. It just makes us angry." He muttered as he reached under the long trench coat he wore and slapped a pair of electronic cuffs roughly onto the target's wrists. He shoved up his sleeve and hit a few buttons on the controller. The man shimmered and vanished. He spun about. "Need a hand, Jack?"

"How many?"

"You know, that gets funnier every time I hear it. Best hurry. Your girl's having a time of it by the sound." He took off like a shot toward the sound of Keri shouting and something else roaring.

Evan looked at Jack in confusion, but he knew they needed to move. They followed the other man. They found him on the back of a hairy, bulbous-faced creature which had Keri by the throat. He covered the thing's buggy eyes with his hands.

"Peek-a-boo! I see you!" He hooted, apparently enjoying himself. "Come on, now. Let go of the pretty lady and I won't have to make you eat your own favorite bits."

The thing did let go, focusing itself on bucking off its passenger. Keri fell to the pavement, coughing and gasping for a moment. Then, face twisted in anger, she got to her feet and kicked out at the thing. It gave a startled bellow as her foot connected with its knee, knocking it off balance.

"Oh! Going down," laughed his rider. "First floor! Ladies' knickers, silk flowers and choccies!" He pushed up, putting his weight behind its head, driving it into the concrete hard enough to put it out cold. He rolled over it to his feet and executed a jaunty bow. "Aw, I like her, Jack. Little spitfire you have there."

Evan and Keri were both staring at the man. Jack just shook his head, let out a weird string of clicks, burbles and syllables neither of them could quite catch and then moved forward to hug him enthusiastically. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Working. Like you."

"Captain?" Keri was blinking in confusion.

"Oh, uh…." The man pulled back from Jack, bowed again and let out the same weird string of sounds Jack had emitted. "That's my name, though Jack here's the only one I know with a hominoid vocal structure who has ever managed to pronounce it worth a damn. Most just call me Dani for short."

_Dani? _Evan blinked. He knew that name from dreams, but this wasn't the face he remembered with it. The look on Jack's face said he would explain in more detail later. If this was the same Dani, he'd once been a Time Agent and was a former lover of Jack's, too. That Dani had been pale-skinned with a bluish tinge. His hair had been long and greenish and his eyes had been silver. It might be a hologram or something, but this man was tanned bronze with sky blue eyes, extremely white teeth and brown hair that brushed the collar of his black coat. Even so, that impish expression and odd demeanor… it had to be the same man. The accent was weird and clipped as it had been in the dreams, too.

"So, it's true then? You're recruiting new Torchwood operatives?" He glanced over Keri and Evan and Chris, who had joined them once he realized something weird was going on with the newcomer. He had a weapon out, but pointed down.

"When I can find good ones."

"Consider me good enough?"

"Depends on who you're affiliated with, Dani."

"Ah, I'm a freelancer now, Jack." He fiddled with a thigh pocket under his coat and pulled out a shield-like object encased in what looked like plastic. "Licensed bounty hunter nice and legal. But definitely looking for more steady pay. A few good tags will float me a while, but competition's getting tough out there and I'm tired of scraping for my supper ever other turn."

"I take it you're here on a visa?"

"Yeah. Good for a week." He shifted oddly, gazing past Jack to where Evan stood. "That one has a lot of your scent on him, Jack. New boyfriend?"

Evan stepped forward, smiling and unthreatened. "Yes."

"He's a handsome thing."

Jack blushed. "Yeah. Uh, do you have permit to bring the ship down?" Dani nodded. He tossed him something from a pocket. "Follow the beacon and use that to open the bay."

"I'll see you there once I get my package on his way. And you, too, pretty lady." He winked at Keri before he dematerialized with a humming shimmer.

* * *

They made it back to The Hub well before Dani got back to them. Jack was in his office. Chris was at his desk, shaking his head. "That guy… he's weird as hell."

"That's one word for it." Keri smirked.

Evan rubbed his chin. "If his takedown techniques are any indication, he's got some interesting moves. You didn't see that half down sliding thing he did. I mean, he's fast, accurate… and that was when he didn't seem to be taking anything very seriously. I really don't want to know what he'd be like pissed off."

"Scary, sir. Scare-e. That's what." Dani's voice made them all jump.

He snuck up on me…. Evan's brows knit together a little. "I bet."

The lean man strode closer, head cocked a bit to one side. It reminded Evan a little of a raptor studying prey. "I can definitely see what Jack likes about you now that I see you in better light. Smart eyes, smart body, too." He grinned, chuckling as Evan blushed. "And oh-so cute when fired up." He saw Keri leaning against the rail with a smirk on her face. "Ah, and you're a very pretty lady, aren't you?"

Evan noted that there was just a little bit of fluster under her nonchalant attitude. "Yeah, whatever."

Jack stepped out onto the deck before his office. "Dani, could you not sexually harass the entire staff your first time in The Hub?"

"What? I've missed a few." He flashed his very white teeth in an exceedingly cheesy grin.

"Get up here so we can start your processing if you're serious about wanting a job."

"Yeah, yeah, the boring bits." He made a face as he shrugged out of his coat and hung it over his arm. "See you after the torture, ducks."

Only Evan seemed aware that Keri's eyes were on Dani's butt as he went up. Once he was closed in the office with Jack, Chris leaned back in his chair looking disturbed and unimpressed. "He's like… a greasy used car salesman or something. He creeps me out."

Keri shrugged. "He kept me from getting my neck snapped. I didn't expect the bastard to suddenly grow two feet taller, sprout fur and tusks and try to throttle me."

Evan sighed. "You'd better get used to that. Most of the stuff we deal with isn't what it seems."

"I know. It won't happen again." She said it tartly. "I want coffee." She pushed off the rail and went into the break room.

Some people might have fretted about their lover being closed into an office with a former lover. Evan didn't. He knew they might sit up there a while recounting old stories while Jack took care of the bureaucracy involved in allowing an alien to work in concert with them. It did take some hoop jumping despite the fact that an alien had saved Earth more times than anyone cared to count. He headed down to the lab level to help Jules catalog the requisite samples on the latest inmate.

She looked up from her equipment as he came in. "Who was that skulking around down here?"

"His name's Dani. Jack knows him. It sounds like he might be joining us." He leaned on the counter. "He did well enough helping us bring down Mr. Warthog."

She made a sour face. "His name is…."

"Jasaphon Talbus Phoss." He at least looked a little sheepish when they said it together. "Sorry."

She handed him a couple of labels. "Mark his slides for me, would you?"

"Sure."

"Chris said Jack was hugging this guy…." She looked askance at him. "Doesn't that bother you?"

He looked amused. "No. I was well aware Jack had a history of lovers longer than I am tall when we got together. He won't stray, not when we've been together this long."

In the office, Dani had rudely plopped his feet on Jack's desk and studied him as he started processing requests through. "So, serious with this one, hmm?"

"Yes." He glanced at him. "How could you tell?"

"You blushed. You never blush, Jack, not unless you're so smitten you're tripping over your own tongue like you were when you were chasing that one operator skirt. What was her name?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully a moment. "Yeah, yeah. Lolly Thanner. That's the one. Third shift on the control deck. Nice perky…." He pantomimed juggling large breasts.

"Yeah, I remember." Jack laughed. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't make me start thinking about it or Evan will think we're doing things we shouldn't be up here."

"Oh? Do tell!"

"He's sensitive to the pheromones." He shrugged.

"Ooooh! So you've got the poor boy by his short hairs quite literally!" He cackled.

Jack pitched a pad of sticky notes at him that bounced off of his right brow. "It's not like that."

Dani raised both brows. "Oh oh oh…. You are serious about this one, aren't you?"

Jack sighed and leaned back while some information transferred. "Yes."

Dani's head cocked to one side curiously. "Had some bad luck, have you, Jack?"

Jack took a deep breath. "It's not something I want to talk about, Dani."

Dani let out a soft chuffing sound. "Ah, well, I suppose I was expecting too much to think I'd just drop right back into being your confidant, hmm?"

"You're still a friend. But, yeah. Evan has that role now."

Dani mirrored his body language rather rakishly. "Well then, is it bad form to ask about your little spitfire?"

Jack snorted. "You're never going to change, are you?"

"Nah. Change is overrated. Besides, if 50 years in cold storage doesn't change me, what will, eh?" He cackled again.

Jack's console chirped an affirmative. "Okay. We've got you marked as here on a trial period. We can finalize within 90 days to make it permanent."

"Excellent. Mind if I slum it in my ship until I find a place? Oh, and I'll want…."

Jack help up a hand. "I know, you need your two days a month recuperation space. I remember. I'll have it done for you."

He beamed. "Excellent, Captain! Most excellent, indeed!" He stuck his hand out as he stood and they shook. "Now, I'm famished! Any good sushi places nearby?"

"You'd have to ask Evan on that one. Or Jules. They're the only two who'll touch the stuff."

"Shame that. I was hoping your little spitfire might join me." He winked as he turned to go.

"Dani, you might not want to keep calling her that. She might decide you're annoying enough to separate you from your most favorite bits." Jack chuckled.

"Well, you know me, Jack. I've always liked to live a bit on the edge. Ta. Give your sweetie a fat kissie-poo for me, eh?" He waggled his eyebrows as he stepped out.

Jack rested his elbows on his desk and put his face in his hands with a groan. What was I thinking?

* * *

That night, when Evan and Jack finally got to his loft, they were fairly worn out and decided to just reheat some leftovers. They curled up on the sofa with their food and a couple of beers.

"So, that's Dani from when you were an Agent, right? But he doesn't look the same."

"Yeah. He's a metamorph. He changes his look every few years and keeps it humanoid so he doesn't freak people out so much."

"He said 'cephalopod', so… a squid-like base form? When you two were together did you… you know… have a little tentacle sex?" Jack grinned as he popped a piece of pot roast into his mouth. "No…." His nose wrinkled a little. "Really?" He started laughing.

"Hey, don't knock a little tentacle sex until you've had a little tentacle sex." He ate another bite. "You know, if you want, I could always share that memory with you. It was definitely…," he shivered a little, "… interesting."

"You are so bad…." He reached over and snagged an extra bit of carrot from Jack's bowl.

"Me? You're the one pilfering my carrot."

Evan laughed again. "You know, it occurs to me that half of what we say when we're off duty that isn't sex talk can be made into sex talk entirely too easily."

"Well, we do have a lot of sex…."

Evan leaned against him. "Not that I'm complaining." He took a swig of beer. "So I'm guessing he's bisexual?"

"More like 'try' sexual." Jack snickered. "The only thing more impressive than his perpetrator tag log is the number of notches on the bedpost."

"He was flirting with Keri. We should tell her…."

"Ah, no. Not our place. Strictly speaking, it's up to him who he shows his true form to and when. My only responsibility is to make sure he stays within our operational strictures on the job. It's not like she'll get pregnant with little squidies or anything. Generally speaking, species that are that different won't interbreed outside of some sort of Frankenstein experiment. If he was a more anthropoid being, I'd be more worried about it." He had finished his food and set the bowl aside. "Right now, the only responsibility I'm worried about is making sure you eat, get a pounce and a bath and get to bed." He kissed him.

Evan covered a huge yawn. "Yeah. Sleep sounds like a winner to me."

* * *

Back at The Hub, Dani went through the process of prepping his ship for mothballing. He wouldn't be allowed to use it as a mode of transport while he was a long term resident. Until Jack had the chance to set a tank up in the low levels for him, he'd have to use the small one on the ship. It was cramped, but it still was better than being unable to go back to rootform for the long term. He was due, actually. He had to spend a minimum of two back to back days fully in rootform every thirty days or so or risk cellular degeneration. Before he could do that, though, he needed to go present his immunization records to Dr. Latimer. He suspected there were a few he needed updated if he wanted to stay healthy on the old mud ball. He finished up the required shut-downs, got his records chip and headed out, locking the hatchway.

Stephen looked up as he entered the medical bay. It was his turn on the overnight shift. "Ah, immunization records. I was just verifying which ones you'd need."

"Got to stay hale and healthy." He grinned as he handed him the chip and leaned with his elbows on the counter while he pulled up the records.

"Yes." He scanned through the information. "You're in luck. You only need three." He turned to gather up the vials he needed.

"Good. Not so hard to deal with, then." His fingers tapped on his thighs. He was getting a bit itchy in his skin. It was definitely time for his rest period.

"Sleeve up, please." Stephen tapped the air from the syringe.

Dani complied, wincing at the surge of rather thick cellular soup going into his flesh. "Gah! You'd think they'd figure out a way to make those not hurt so much!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Stephen chuckled as he reached for a bandage.

"No need." He flexed his arm. "I seal quickly."

Stephen studied him for a moment. "Would you… be willing to let me study you?"

He made a face. "Uh, no. Sorry."

"Worth a shot. I've just got very little data on your species."

"I know. We like it that way." He winked. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some more grub in my gut. Have a good watch, doc."

* * *

Keri tilted her head up and scowled at the bruise around her throat in the mirror's reflection. Stephen had given her something for the pain. There was no permanent damage, but it was damned ugly. She blew out a huff of breath and got down some witch hazel from the cabinet. She soaked some gauze pads in it and used rolled gauze to secure it over the worst of the bruising. She could at least make it fade a little faster if nothing else. She found herself thinking about sky blue eyes and shook her head ruefully.

What the hell? He's not that hot… is he? Well, he does have a really nice ass. Who am I kidding, though? If I was a gambler and my luck at the table matched my luck with men, I'd be so broke I couldn't afford to pay attention.

She slid into bed, mind going right back to Dani's sudden appearance and rescue of her. It was ridiculous, really. Knight in shining armor? Right. She snickered and flopped onto her belly. I'm so not going there.

But she couldn't help it. Her brain had entirely latched onto the dashing, jaunty man who had come to her rescue. And, having not had a tumble in a while, the dreams she had started sliding right into pornographic… interesting but pornographic.


	4. Puzzle Pieces

Evan was napping on the sofa with Jack when he felt a darkness creeping in upon his peaceful sleep. His heart beat faster, his breath quickened. It was a dream. He felt like he was plummeting and then stopping suddenly. There was something looming over him, huge and close, but he couldn't see it.

_Where are you?! I feel you! Show yourself!_

There was a deep, oddly grating whisper. _Not ready. Burn you up like food, little monkey child. _

He felt his knees go watery and fold under him as he clutched his head. There was no ground… at least he couldn't feel any. He felt something rolling around inside, like a killer whale deep under the ocean surface; only he was the ocean, bright on the surface and dark below. The gnashing teeth were chewing on him. There was no up, no down, nothing. Just falling and rolling and stretching in the dark. He tried to scream, tried to breathe. The darkness thrummed and beat like a heart, making every atom chime like a bell.

"Evan!"

The nothing lurched.

"Evan! Wake up!"

Another quake in the blackness.

"Evan!"

The voice was full of fear and fear ripped the dark. Light blinded him and made him gasp in pain. He was shaking, cold. But there was warmth against him: Jack.

"Hey, hey. Easy. It was a dream, just a dream. Shhh." He felt Jack's lips against his temple.

"Jack…." His head throbbed in protest at the light and his stomach lurched. He jerked free with a choking sound, hit the floor hard and scrambled to the bathroom to be sick.

"What the hell…?" Jack grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial for Stephen. "Hey, come to the warehouse. Something's wrong with Evan."

Stephen arrived in short order and had Evan on the sofa, examining him. The portable scanner was giving off a series of decidedly aggravated sounding beeps. Stephen scowled, rocking back on his haunches before him.

"Some of what I see looks for all the world like traces of a migraine headache, but… given that we still have no damned clue what the rest of his physiology consists of, it makes diagnosing the issue beyond difficult. All I can tell you for sure is it's not any sort of microbial issue. He's clean of germs." He pushed to his full height. "Have you changed anything, Evan? Eaten new foods, used new art supplies, anything?"

Evan was a little pale, but looked much calmer than he had. "No. I felt fine until I woke up. Just… the bad dream." He glanced at Jack who rubbed his back gently.

"Well, the best I can do at the moment is dull down that headache for you. That should calm your stomach as well. Other than that, I'd let him rest a bit, Jack, and feed him. His glucose is a little low." He filled a syringe. "Give me your hip, Evan. This works better from there." Once Evan rested on his side with his hip exposed, he injected the medication. Evan hissed at the burn and then relaxed. "Call me if things get worse."

"We will." He clasped him by the forearm. "Thanks, Stephen."

He gave a faint shrug. "My job." He gathered his equipment back into his bag and headed out.

Jack sat on the edge of the sofa, caressing Evan's cheek. "Do you remember anything from the dream?" For his part, he'd been awakened by what had sounded to him like distant cries for help to find Evan in a state.

He was feeling a little drowsy. "No, not really. Just… that I was afraid." He shivered faintly. "Very afraid."

Jack sighed. "Let's get you some food before you pass out."

Jack stayed with him. Thankfully it ended up being a quiet night and they were undisturbed. He slept through the drugged haze, hardly moving. Jack stayed awake, unable to sleep without Evan's song to lull him. He was worried. Evan hadn't done this before. The dream had almost had him in convulsions and he'd felt hot to the touch as well. He started to wonder if it wasn't time to go back to trying to puzzle out what Evan was. There was one resource they hadn't tapped the first time. Getting a hold of him when you wanted him was, of course, dodgy. He'd have to try.

Two days later, they were chasing a large pack of enormous insectoid creatures through the sewers. The things had scared the Weevils up into the streets, causing a double issue. Jules, Evan, Jack and Chris were working on trying to flush the insectoids into a trapped area. Gwen, Dani, Alex and Keri were running down the panicked Weevils. Stephen was sitting watch.

Evan and Chris had taken one branch of the network while Jules and Jack went another way. They could hear the creatures skittering, but it was hard to tell exactly where they were with the echoes. Evan had tried to see if he could sense them, but their bug brains were far too primitive and alien for him to sense. He cursed mentally, trying to see if they even left an impression at all when they passed through the tunnel. He'd come to realize that some primitive or very simplistic life forms didn't leave an energy trace he could discern. So they kept going. He knew they were going fairly deep now. The smell was so thick and horrid that it coated his tongue. Chris looked almost green with it, but he kept his discomfort to himself. He held a hand up, indicating Chris should be still as he listened. He heard a slide, a scrape, dripping. Then, nothing. He was starting to really dislike these damned creepy-crawlies.

Down their tunnel, Jack and Jules weren't having much better luck. The walls and Weevil rubbish were confounding scan attempts. Jules swore she could hear something ahead, but the sounds of water and the echoes were making it confusing. They were coming to an area where slanted sluiceways penetrated the walls above them. Jack was almost under one ahead of her when Jules caught a glimpse of shiny carapace.

"Jack, look out!"

It seemed like the world slowed suddenly, though Jules knew it was really going incredibly fast. The thing launched itself out of the sluiceway. Its maw gaped as it gave a gibbering, shrieking roar. Its long appendages splayed wide, the blade-like ends ready to rip into Jack. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. No, it rang? There was a low whisper, echoing.

_Jack…._

Pulse, ring. Pulse, ring. Breathe. Out. _Open. Go._

Chris had frozen in his tracks. He saw a vibration in the air around Evan and then he was just gone, vanished. Jules had the gun in her hand, but it trembled and a terrified sound passed her lips as her finger refused to squeeze the trigger.

"Shoot…. Shoot." It shivered past her lips. And then there was a voice.

_Back, little child. Go. _

A ripple shook the air and Evan was suddenly between Jack and the monster. Jack had managed to turn, but too slowly. He could fire, but it was going to pile drive him, no matter what. Evan's sudden appearance snapped his eyes to him. Evan's eyes were closed and he seemed to be listening to something only he could hear.

"Evan?!" He could feel something pulling at him painfully and winced. Something was building, felt like it was filling the tunnel, though he could see nothing.

Pulse, ring. Pulse, ring. Breathe. Out. _Open. Go_

Evan's eyes opened as he looked at Jack over his shoulder. Jack was startled to see that they were completely shiny black and shot through with tiny pinpricks of silver, like star fields.

_One such as you is not safe so close, Captain. Run._

The voice grated through Jack's head. He knew it came from Evan, but wasn't. Seconds compressed, expanded, twisted. Evan's hand went out and the creature froze in mid-air.

"Evan!"

_Go! _

A force shoved both Jack and Jules backward and away. Jack saw the glow, a faint rippling ribbon in the air that crackled and split. In the breach was nothing…. The whole ground seemed to be shuddering and ringing around them and Jules covered her ears with a cry. They could hear Chris yelling somewhere.

Above ground, Gwen slid to a stop, almost falling onto her butt. The hair on her arms was standing up and there was a ring, a vibration. Metal things around her sounded like chimes ringing. "What the bloody hell?!" She clicked on her earpiece. "Jack?!" Nothing. "Jack!"

Jack stared in shock as the insectoid suddenly flew into the narrow gash, several of its limbs ripped off and spraying black ichor in the process because the gap was too narrow for it. Things seemed to happen incredibly fast then. Two more of the things tried to jump Evan with the same result. They were thrown into the gap, but it was shrinking, so they went like bodies sucked through a ruptured ship hull. Jack grunted, feeling more pressure pulling at him. He felt like the ringing thrum around them was liquefying him from the inside out. Then it suddenly started to decrease. He saw Evan waver. One more creature flew at him from the opposite direction as the gap sealed. Its bladed forelegs struck out.

"NO!"

Jack tried to gain his feet and couldn't. He was disoriented, but his vision focused in sharply as the legs scissored into Evan's torso and tore him apart. There was a flash and boom as Jules shot the thing right in the head, blowing the far side of it off. It rolled sideways, Evan falling from its grip with a sickening wet thud. A high, choking sound came up from Jules' throat and the gun clattered to the floor. Jack finally managed to scramble to his feet, but Jules rushed past him, sliding to her knees in the gore with her medic case thumping.

Evan's upper torso was attached to the rest of him by little more than his spine and shreds of muscle. He spasmed and choked, convulsing. His eyes were brown again and flicked to Jack who let out strangled sound. "Sss…" He grimaced and made a sharp sound of pain.

"Nononononono!" Jules was frantically digging through her kit. She intellectually knew there was nothing she could do, but she shakily tried to find something… ANYTHING.

"Jack…." He made another sound of pain. "Ssss….sorry… Jack."

"Shhh. Don't talk." Tears were cutting paths through the muck and gore on his face. "Don't."

Evan blinked slowly. Jack stared. The pupils of his eyes were still that eerie, glittering black. The same grating voice that had told him to run whispered in his head. _Puzzle pieces. Put together. _

Then there was empty silence. His eyes were wide. "Jules…." He shook her shoulders. "Pull him together! Help me! We need the pieces."

She sobbed. "Jack… he's gone! He's not breathing!"

"Dammit, Jules! HELP ME!" He started frantically looking for all of the gory human bits on the floor and trying to put them roughly where they belonged.

"Captain?!" Chris came staggering out of an adjoining tunnel and froze at the sight before him. "Oh, shit…."

Dani was the first into the sewers and he followed the sounds and the smell of gore to them. He slid to a stop at the edge of the blood pool, lips drawn back in much the way a cat which smelled something offensive would do. "Oh, hell…." He tried to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Jack…."

"No!" He jerked his shoulder away. "The pieces! Gather the pieces!"

Dani didn't comprehend, but he stripped off his trench coat. "Here! Put him in it!" He dragged Chris closer. "Come on! Hurry up!"

He and Chris carefully shifted the largest two pieces over and Jack and Jules gathered everything they could find, though both of them were choking back racking sobs. When everything was in, Dani tied it closed as best he could.

They came up as Gwen was heading to the tunnels. She paled and froze as she saw the gore soaked bundle in Jack's arms.

"Meet us back," called Dani. He, Jules, Jack, Chris and what remained of Evan vanished and reappeared on the foredeck of his ship. He quickly opened the hatch and Jack went off at top speed toward med bay.

"Stephen!"

Jules just went to her knees, crying. Chris knelt and supported her for a moment. Then he just scooped her up and carried her. "I've got you, Jules. I've got you."

"What in God's name…?!" Stephen had seen all sorts of gore in his life, but the sight that darkened his doorway shocked him. "Jack?"

"It said to put together the pieces." His eyes were pleading. "You have to put together the pieces, Stephen!"

He put a hand on Jack's arm. "Jack…."

"Do it! It's a fucking order!" He looked insane. "The work doesn't stop until you have it all put back together, do you hear me?!" When Stephen just stared he grabbed his arms painfully. "DO IT!"

Stephen suddenly burst into action. "I need Jules!"

"Put me down, Chris…." She staggered to the table unsteadily. "I'm here."

"Jack…." Dani's voice was soft. "Best get out of their way and let them work." Chris looked at him like he was crazy. "Come on. Let's go upstairs and get out of that mess, hmm?"

Reluctantly, Jack went with him. Gwen, Keri and Alex took a while to get back to The Hub. By the time they got there, Dani had stripped Jack out of his gore-soaked clothes and herded him into the shower. He'd had to keep goading him, helping him because he kept freezing in place and just sobbing. He was numbly walking down the gangway toward medical by the time Gwen hopped down from the lift.

"Jack?"

Dani held up hand and shook his head. "Leave him be."

"What the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure… but… Evan's gone."

A hand went to her mouth to cover the shocked cry as she realized what that bloody bundle had been.

* * *

**Author Note: My best friend said I should warn you to have your hanky ready. LOL**

The Hub was cloaked in uneasy silence. Two days it had taken Jules and Stephen to put the shattered mess that had been Evan all back together. They hadn't slept, hadn't eaten. They had barely left the table until Jules tugged tight the last stitch. Then Stephen had gone off alone looking haggard and sick. Jules had gone to her apartment with Chris, a wan-faced ghost who looked like she had dropped at least four pounds. Jack spent most of those two days watching them with hollow eyes, perched like a statue on a stool with his back against the wall. On the morning of the third day, when Dani tried to pull him from the stool to make him move, he'd ended up being punched in the mouth.

He dabbed at the blood seeping from his lip with a finger. "Jack, if something is going to happen, it'll happen whether you're sitting here or not. You need to move. You need to eat."

Pain darkened Jack's eyes and face as the low words passed his lips, "I will when he does…." Dani moved as if to hug him and Jack shoved him back. "Leave me alone."

Dani's inner and outer eyelids flicked together rhythmically several times as he stared at him. "Okay, Jack. Okay. I get the picture." He let out a string of agitated, chuffing clicks and went back up the gangway, almost running over Gwen. "Don't bother. He won't move."

"I know. Maybe I can at least get him to drink something." She held out the cups she carried.

"Good luck with that." He jerked up at the collar of the brown coat that had temporarily replaced his ruined trench coat. "I'll be on the cell if you need me for anything."

She nodded as he hustled up the ramp. She knew seeing Jack like this deeply disturbed Dani. He said he'd never seen it before. But then, he hadn't been around when Ianto died, either. Gwen didn't say anything at first. She just leaned against the counter and set the coffee between them. She blew out a huff of breath.

"They kept trying to make me leave when I stood watch over you." But it was a different 'they'. She took a sip of her tea, warming her hands on it. "I wouldn't go." She let out a shaky breath.

"I know." He whispered. "I heard you all that time."

"Maybe if you talk to him, Jack? Maybe he can hear you like you could hear me…."

"Why did he do that, Gwen? Why?" He rubbed at his face. "It's not like it would have killed me. Why did he stand between us?" He leaned back again, hands on his knees.

She put a hand over his. "I don't know, Jack. I still don't have the whole story. Why don't you tell me?" He could only tell her what he'd seen. She listened, brows drawn together. "He opened a rift?"

"It sort of looked like it. But there was… nothing. It opened onto nothing… I think . It was hard to tell. It wasn't open for long."

"Oh, Jack, what is he?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The answer was barely audible. "The man I love. He's the man I love." He took a shaky breath. "Go home, Gwen. Rhys needs you. You sat alone for me. I'll sit alone for him."

"I'll go, but only if you promise me you'll eat something. I'll not hear the end of it if I let you waste away."

"I will, I promise. So go, please." He slipped from the stool. "And, thank you." He hugged her for a moment. "Go home." He turned her gently toward the ramp.

When he was sure she was gone, he moved the stool over beside the table. He settled on it and rested his head on the cold metal beside Evan's head, forehead against the soft curls. His voice was a hoarse whisper.

"You listen to me. You have to come back. I need your song. I need you. I love you, Evan. I need to see your eyes. I need to hear the way you moan against my skin. I need to feel that little kiss you put on my temple as I drift off at night. I need your smile. I need you thinking you're sneaking naked drawings while I sleep. I need your laugh. Come back. Wake up. You have to." Tears wet the dark curls as they pooled. "You have to…." He wasn't sure how long he sat like that. His tears eventually ran out and he just slid a hand out to cover Evan's. "Come home, Evan. Come home, please."

Jules showed up early, well before anyone else was due in. She had a bag that held a box breakfast in it. She still looked pale and sick and she was dressed the most normal she'd been since she started at The Hub. Her hair was its natural sun-streaked brown, wavy and pulled up in a messy ponytail. She wore a baggy black shirt and tatty jeans and a pair of Converse with anime art all over them. Jack didn't think he'd actually ever seen her without make-up before.

"Jules? You should be at home."

"Gwen said you promised you would eat. So you're going to eat." She tried not to look at the pale body she'd spent two days stitching. "Break room. Stephen'll be mental if you eat in here. Let's go." She very gently pulled at Jack's arm.

He shook his head ruefully, voice soft. "You won't go away, will you?"

"No. And I'm off duty, so you can't order me to, either." There was a little spark of her normal fire behind her shadowed eyes.

Jack wasn't stupid. He knew Jules felt responsible for what had happened because she'd hesitated. He followed her up the gangway and settled at the break room table with her as she laid out the breakfast for him. "Jules… what happened down there wasn't your fault."

"If I had fired, he wouldn't have come."

He stilled the hands which fussed with unfolding a napkin for him. "You don't know that. We don't know what caused it." He blinked back fresh tears. No more crying… no more. "So, quit kicking yourself, okay? Remember, when I decided to let him go into the field, I took full responsibility. So it's on me, no one else. Understand?"

She looked at his hand covering hers and nodded slowly. "Eat, Jack."

The fifth day dawned grey and ugly, with a chill rain and wind that passed the buildings with low, mournful moans. Jack had left briefly to go to the loft and retrieve Evan's MP3 player and dock from his studio while Chris was on overnight watch. Chris tried to ignore the soft sounds of "Moonlight Serenade" echoing up from the medbay. Knowing there was a corpse laid out down there instead of in the cold storage where it belonged made his skin crawl. They'd moved it into a side room so Jack could sit undisturbed and Jules and Stephen could get on with their work.

They need to just stop this, he thought. He's gone. Jules is going to go crazy if they don't just accept that. He scowled faintly as he played games to pass the time. He'd been staying with Jules since she'd gone home after completing the stitching. She had begged him to stay, saying that she couldn't bear being alone just yet. He'd been on the sofa until she'd awakened crying. After that, he'd stretched out in her bed with her, just holding her. Right where he wanted to be, but for all the wrong reasons. He sighed.

He glanced up as Stephen entered The Hub. The older man paused at his desk, looking at him as if he had just met him. "Thank you… for taking care of Jules."

"Uh… you're welcome." He ducked his head as the older man continued on to the lower levels .

It was later that day that the screaming started. Stephen had gone up to the break room to have his lunch. Jack sat beside Evan, head on the cold table, whispering to him about maybe taking a trip over to France for a weekend. He was in an almost trance-like state. At first, he thought he had imagined the faint twitch of a finger under his own. But then it came again and he jerked upright.

"Evan?! Come on, sweetheart! Wake up!" He cupped the cold, pale face in his shaking hands. Evan's body suddenly convulsed, arching upward like a bow. His eyes flew wide open. He took a long, gasping breath and then just screamed. The sound tore at Jack. "I've got you, Evan. I'm here! Right here! Look at me! Hold onto me!" Tears blurred his vision as Stephen rushed into the room.

"My God…." He looked stunned.

"Give him something! Quick!" He winced as Evan's terrified mind latched onto his with the ferocity of a bear. He could feel the pain and terror as if they were his own. "Easy, Evan! I'm here! I'm here!"

_Jack… oh, it hurts… hurts! _He let out another scream of agony.

"Hold him down!" Stephen cursed under his breath as he filled a syringe with a mix of sedative and heavy pain killer.

The whole team was crowded at the top of the gangway on the main deck, uneasy looks passing between them. They could hear Evan struggling even after Stephen jabbed him with the syringe.

Jack grabbed his head between both hands, a fierce look on his face. Evan's eyes were squeezed tightly shut. "Look at me." He kept struggling.

"He's fighting the sedative. But I don't dare give him more. With him this shocky it might do more harm than good…."

"Evan!" Jack's voice was a hard growl. "You look at me, dammit! Right now!"

Evan's eyes snapped open and it was clear he was confused, scared. But Jack's eyes seemed to trap him and his scream trailed off. _Jack…. I… I died… I died…._

Yes, you did. But you're back and that's all that matters, thought Jack as he finally began to relax. Jack leaned down, resting his forehead against Evan's "Don't you ever do that again…." He hugged him gently, lips against his shoulder to block the cry of relief that tried to come out.

"I… need to scan him, Jack." He gestured to where stitches had just barely started to come loose on the surface closures on Evan's exposed abdomen. "He's obviously not got your speed when it comes to this…."

_Don't go…._

"Work around me." He didn't take his eyes from Evan's face as he straightened and gently brushed sweat dampened curls from Evan's forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."

Stephen only looked slightly grumpy. At the top of the gangway, Jules wiped at the tears trailing down her face and looked immensely relieved. Without even thinking about it, Chris wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him with her head on his shoulder.

Evan slept a lot over the next two days. Stephen wouldn't allow him to go home yet. He said he couldn't go until all of his internal organs had fully knit back together and proved to be fully functional. So Jack made him as comfortable as possible in his office. Gwen told him to sit the watch and let the team handle things. He was okay with that. They were out investigating a possible Weevil attack scene. Evan was sitting up with his legs on the sofa, looking down at his torso with a scowl.

"It looks like a patchwork quilt…."

Jack was watching him from his chair. "Maybe the scars will fade." He took a deep breath. "Evan, what do you remember?"

His scowl deepened and his throat moved visibly as he swallowed. He closed his eyes, breathing the way Jack recognized as his meditative breathing. His voice was soft. "We were searching without much luck. I kept thinking I heard something, but couldn't track them. Then I heard Jules scream your name and I knew you were in trouble. There was a sound… sort of like… a bell. Then… then I woke up in medbay…." He shuddered and drew the snow leopard printed blanket Jack had brought from the loft for him closer about himself. He sank back against the pillows.

"You don't remember anything else after that sound?" He shook his head and Jack sighed softly. They were quiet for a time, Evan just tracing the spaces between spots on the blanket with his fingers.

"Jack… you remember it every time you die, don't you?"

"Yes. And it does hurt… a lot."

"But I'm not like you."

"No. You're not. Stephen says the process is slower for you and not the same on the scans. The readings are different. It's more like an energy pattern than the cellular growth you see when… say… a gecko grows back its tail. It doesn't match what happens to me or anything else we have information on." He took a deep breath. "I've got a call out to a friend to see if we can get some help."

The Doctor. Evan knew he was talking about The Doctor. He took a shaky breath. "I didn't… hurt anyone, did I?"

"Only the things attacking me."

The team had already been bantering back and forth about this. Jules fervently pointed out that, whatever it was that had controlled Evan's body, it had tried to protect both Jack and her. It had seemed to know that what it was about to do might be dangerous to them both. Chris supported her in that. Stephen was neutral since it wasn't him usually in the fray. He generally just picked up the pieces. Dani said only that he trusted Jack's judgment. Alex was of a mind that any unknown of that caliber in the field was a danger to all involved and that he should be restricted to The Hub again. Keri somewhat agreed with Alex except she didn't think locking him away in a cell was an option. Gwen wasn't sure where she stood on it. On the one hand, a loose cannon of that magnitude was exceptionally dangerous. On the other, they'd run out of ideas on how to figure out what exactly was going on. Jack had told her he was trying to track down The Doctor. She figured that he was probably the only being in the known universe who was likely to even have an insight at that point.

Evan broke into his thoughts. "I'm hungry. Can I have real food yet?"

There was a tap on the door and Jules poked her head in. "Stephen wanted me up for fresh scans while he was in the field." She stepped in when they both nodded. She gave Evan a gentle smile. "You look a lot better today."

"Thanks."

She passed the scanner over him slowly, watching the readout. "Ah good, those gaps in the intestinal musculature look like they've finally sealed."

"So I can eat real food?" He was tired of nutrient shakes. If he had to drink one more, he thought he might throw up. His elevated metabolism had kicked into total overdrive trying to finish putting him back together and that meant he'd been having to constantly sip at the nasty things since he'd come back.

"Yeah." At his beaming expression she gave him a look. "BUT keep it light and don't overload on the roughage. Give your gut a little time to settle back down." She glanced over to assure Jack was paying attention and he nodded slightly.

A little crestfallen, Evan said, "I guess light is better than nothing."

"A lot better." She ruffled his hair. "No more scaring the bejeebers out of me, okay?"

He blushed a little. "I'll try."

* * *

**Author note: Sorry, I'm not overly fond of the 11th Doctor, so I'm cheating and using the 10th. :-p**

Evan was draped across Jack on the sofa. It was Jack's turn on the overnight, so they were staying in his office. He'd been feeling much better the last few days, but Stephen cautioned him not to overdo things. So he was taking care of things in The Hub for now. Jack was fast asleep for the first time in almost two weeks. Evan slept lightly, some part of him wary of sleeping too deeply. He stirred a little as a soft, gentle music began to drift into his consciousness. It had an eerie similarity to the song he sang to Jack every night, the song that lived in him basically. He felt something… a shift… a change of air pressure? He couldn't be sure. He sat up carefully, wondering if it might still be some odd effect of his near death experience. He quietly slipped from the sofa and pulled on his sweatpants as a sound began, soft at first, but growing. It thrummed. It sang. He blinked. He recognized the song suddenly. It had soothed him to sleep on odd occasions when he was a boy. His face lit up and he stepped onto the gangway as a soft glow began on the lower deck. He was mesmerized by it as a shape began to form, a police call box, a pretty shade of blue.

_It's you! You used to sing to me…._

_Yes. We sing to our boy who is sad._

_I knew it! I knew you were real! _ He ran down the stairs, practically hugged a corner of the box and laughed. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice when the door opened and a head with a shock of wild dark hair peeked out.

The eyebrows rose at the sight of the boy having a cuddle with the TARDIS and the head vanished back inside with a soft, "What?! Something you've not shared?" He peered back out, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the strange young man. His eyebrows rose remarkably higher as he looked at the reading. "Well, well, aren't you an interesting boy," he murmured.

Evan looked over and immediately blushed, stepping back from the box. "Um… I'm not… trying to… you know." He was looking at him in wide-eyed wonder and took a deep breath. "You… you're him… The Doctor. I can… see why Jack is so… attracted." He blushed darker.

The Doctor looked a little uncomfortable at that look and cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I seem to have that affect on some people."

"Doctor!" Jack came out of the office in just his pants. "Am I glad to see you!" He came down and hugged the man before he could react. He raised an eyebrow as he realized Evan was still staring in very open admiration and… excitement, too. He pulled back and frowned a little. Was it? No… he couldn't be… truly jealous? That was a first. He took a breath. "This is Evan."

The Doctor pulled out his glasses and put them on. He stepped closer, tilting Evan's chin this way and that, which succeeded in making him blush more. "The boy who opens rifts. I must say, he's far more exceptional than the outer packaging suggests, Jack." His eyes flicked to Jack while he was still touching Evan. I still can't believe it's him… the Face of Boe…. Who would have thunk it, he thought.

Evan caught a glimpse of something… a head in a giant jar, strange and wrinkled and yet oddly familiar. It was… Jack. He paled and suddenly felt sick.

_Our boy needs cold juice. Come inside. We will sing to you._

The Doctor looked most confused as Evan stepped quickly past him and into the TARDIS which then closed the door. "What?!" His mouth opened and closed a few times. "She just shut me out. My own TARDIS just shut me out."

"Wow." Jack looked sheepish and ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, he tends to have that effect on women. They either want to mother him or drag him off to… well, you know." And now I'm feeling jealous over a TARDIS. What the hell?

The Doctor blinked twice and then just shrugged. "Anyway. It's good you called me, Jack."

"If you're sure it's okay for Evan to be alone in there, let's talk in my office."

"Should be fine. Apparently, she knows him."

"Travelling alone?" Jack glanced sideways at him.

"Yes." It was obvious that was as much as he'd get. The Doctor settled in a chair across from Jack. "So, where did you find him?"

"He found me, actually. He showed up out of the blue. He had a sketchbook." He pulled it over from a shelf. "This sketchbook."

The Doctor took it and flipped through it with apparent interest. "He's… good. And how accurate are these drawings?"

"Scarily accurate. There are things in there no one should know but me and the person I was with at the time."

"Interesting." He closed the book and set it on the desk. "Well, I can tell you what he is, anyway. Do you know the Gaia Principle?"

"The notion that the Earth is a living, feeling being?" The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, it's not exactly wrong and it doesn't just apply to planets. I've come across stars which were aware beings."

"So, what does that have to do with Evan?"

"There's a famous saying from an Earth scientist, a cosmologist. He said, 'We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.' He was a man well before his time and definitely onto something. Your Evan, well, he just has a bit more generous dose of star stuff than most."

"Okay… I'm not getting what you mean."

"Well, for all intents and purposes, he's half human and half star."

"How is that even possible?"

"Well, my guess is the cosmos got to know a human really well at some point…." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

Inside the TARDIS, Evan gazed about him in awe. _You're so beautiful._

He sensed a wave of happiness. _Come. There is cold juice for our boy._

_Tell me… that thing I saw… it's really Jack, isn't it?_

There was a hesitation. _Yes. But it should not upset our boy. Our Jack does good things. _The TARDIS guided him to a room with a little bed and a little side table with a glass of juice on it. _Our boy has been not well. Our boy should rest. We will sing to our boy. It makes us happy._

_I can't tell Jack, can I?_

_No. Our Jack must not know. Our boy must rest. _She encouraged him to drink the juice and then nap on the bed.

"Essentially," The Doctor said, "what you have is something I've never even heard of. I mean there are legends about Star People all over. They usually come around, teach some things and off they go again. But I've never heard of a star getting friendly with a humanoid and making babies. Do you know which parent was the human?"

"His mother."

"Ah."

"So there's no telling exactly what he's capable of?"

"Mmm, no. Not really. I could speculate." Jack's look had a hint of 'please do' and he tapped his chin for a moment. "Well, one could assume his lifespan will be longer than a human one. I mean stars are funny things. They'll grow, grow, grow to a certain point and then stay there for thousands of years. Then, suddenly, FOOMF!" He made a gesture indicating an explosion.

"What about that rift?"

"Mini black hole sort of thing?" He shrugged a bit. "Stars are energy and I've seen sentience capable of manipulating energies in amazing, seemingly impossible ways, such as how we ended up with you, Jack. Who knows what that dash of mad monkey genes has spawned? If there's one thing I've learned about humans, it's that they can muck up the most streamlined and simple concept in the most extraordinary ways."

Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair, silent for several moments. "Do you think he's safe for my team to be around?"

"Oh, well… I don't really know. Should be fun finding out, though." He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing a thumb along one sideburn. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to let me borrow him for a bit, would you?"

Jack's face might have been stone at that point. "Um, no."

"Ah, well. Worth a shot." He stood. "Mind if I look at him a bit more closely then?"

"As long as I'm present."

"Right. Shall we?"

The TARDIS grudgingly let them in, chiding The Doctor for disturbing her boy, but happy to have her Jack aboard.

The Doctor looked just a little disgruntled. "She's certainly rather attached to him."

"So am I."

"Oh." The Doctor gave him an odd look as they headed into the room where Evan was dozing. "Here we are. Would you wake him, please?"

Jack padded over to the little bed and sat on the edge. "Evan, wake up."

"Mmm?" His eyes fluttered open and he blushed. "She was singing to me."

The Doctor stepped closer. "Evan, I'd like to take a peek in your head if I could…."

"He's… a telepath, Doctor."

"Oh, I didn't scan for that. That makes things easier. You'll know how to protect things you'd rather I not see then, yes?" Evan nodded. "Good. May I?

Evan looked a little nervous and glanced at Jack, who nodded slightly.

_Our Doctor does not wish to harm our boy. Our Doctor wishes to help._

_Yes, you may. _He took a deep breath as The Doctor gently placed his hands on his temples and closed his eyes.

In that moment, he felt the old sensation of something stirring and stretching inside. Something felt like it was surfacing. Evan felt like he was drifting downward. Had it not been for the TARDIS singing softly to him, he might have panicked. The Doctor whispered both his thoughts and those of the presence he was contacting so that Jack could hear.

_Time Lord._ The voice was a deep rasp mixed with a thrumming chime, the Music of the Spheres, the language of the cosmos.

_Yes. You are the star living inside the boy?_

_Yes._

_What do you seek?_

_To live._

_I see. But you're so isolated from the human parts. Why?_

_Humans are not built for energy. They burn. He is too young for more than I give. He tries to pull, but I cannot give or he will die._

_Oh… so you were the one who closed the opening he made._

_Yes. To stop him from burning. But he was deconstructed and needed repair._

_Is there any way to integrate with him?_

_Yes. To train. To grow. To age. His form is too young. But his mind is strong. We will bond some day._

_So just time then?_

_Yes._

_And how long will you have for living?_

_Stars are eternal. We burn and fade and burn again. _

_Thank you. This will put his friends at ease._

_We will not harm them. Tell them so._

The Doctor blinked rapidly for a moment as he released Evan who then slumped lightly against Jack. "Goodness, that'll give you a ringing in the ears." He stuck a finger in one ear, tilted his head and wiggled the finger rapidly for a moment. "So, there you have it: Technically a baby star which knows enough to not burn up the boy or his friends."

The TARDIS seemed peeved at the notion. _Our boy would never harm our Jack._

Evan's eyes fluttered open. "Wha…?"

"Ah, there you are." The Doctor smiled and lightly ruffled his hair. "How do you feel?"

Evan didn't even think. "With my hands."

The Doctor laughed as Jack snickered. "I can definitely tell he spends a lot of time with you, Jack."

The next day, The Doctor locked up the TARDIS while he and Jack hunted up more options for the wardrobe's period dress. One never had too many options when a variety of traveling companions passed through one's ship. Besides, adventure was definitely not "Gentle Care". Things were damaged, lost or just wore out with enough use. More than 900 years of adventure took its toll. Evan had been feigning a doze on the sofa when they headed out. When he was sure they were gone and everyone else was out for lunch but Dani, he crept out to the TARDIS. He'd heard Dani go below, probably to his ship. He put a hand on the TARDIS.

_Hello? Can I come in?_

_Yes. _The door opened. _Our boy is well today._

_Yes. I feel much better. Thank you. _ He sat in one of the chairs behind the control panel. _Jack is the way he is because Rose touched your energy and then touched him, right?_

_Yes. We love our Jack and saved him with our Rose._

_I thought so. I can feel it in him. It's like… traces of glitter inside._ He was quiet for a while and the TARDIS sang softly, content. _The Doctor really loved her._

_Yes. We love our Rose. We miss our Rose._

Evan heard the alarms go off at the entrance and his head snapped up. _I have to go. Thank you._ He caressed a panel gently as he passed. He managed to slip out and was at the top of the stairs in front of Jack's office when they stepped onto the lift.

"Ah, good. You're awake to see me off," called The Doctor with a smile. "I've got to move along. Places to see, things to do and all of that." He reached into a bag. "I brought you this. Seems your old one was about out of pages." He held up a beautiful leather bound sketchbook with gilt-edged pages.

When they'd loaded up the things they'd bought and the TARDIS had phased out, Jack looked at him with raised brows. "You know, it's weird, he's acting like you're a favorite nephew or something."

Evan shrugged. "Maybe he figures that I'm a kid because I'm a 'baby star'?" He figured the TARDIS calling him 'our boy' didn't help. Great… I'm her pet? Well, if that was so, then it was as true of The Doctor, Jack and anyone else she took a liking to. It amused him.

Jack contemplated. "Does that make me a cradle robber?" He laughed when Evan poked him in the belly with a finger.


	5. Squidle-dee-dee

Both of their cell phones were ringing. It never failed… about to get off and they just HAD to go off. "Shit!" Dani growled the word. "Seriously! That's the last three times in a row!"

Keri groaned. "Gotta go, Dani… it's the emergency ring."

He rolled off, fishing around the floor for his pants. "It's always some great damned emergency…." He flipped open his phone. "Whatever it is, I hope it's ready to die, Jack…. "

The current emergency happened to be a crash landed zoo transport and an escaped monstrosity rampaging through an industrial complex and headed toward the city. The thing was somewhat reptilian, quadropedal and had a back full of wriggling, stalky projections with glowing tips. Its triangular head's most prominent features were a maw of blade-like teeth and faintly phosphorescent, short stalked eyes. Its thick hide was a mix of blue, green and grayish mottling crisscrossed by black stripes.

"Oh, you are one ugly bastard. And smelly" Dani peeked over a stack of barrels. He clicked on his ear piece. "Heading your way, Jack."

"Evan, is that cage ready?"

"Yes. We're ready, Jack."

"Run him, Dani."

"Right." He kicked down the barrels, startling the thing. It started running forward and he encouraged it to keep going with blasts from his shockwave pistol. "That's it! Run for it, ugly!"

He whooped and yelled at it, occasionally squeezing off a shot it redirect it when it tried to bolt somewhere he didn't want it to go. All was going well until a gate to Dani's left shrieked open and started to admit a big rig. A second. It was only a second. Keri had been coming in from her sector to assist in the herding. The thing whirled, letting out a whuff-bark-hoot of sound and the things on its back whipped up and over, pointing right at Dani as he looked back at it. He didn't register what was happening until it was too late. There was a low thrum as the lit ends of appendages flashed and the light coalesced into a speeding blade of light.

With more than a second his quick brain could churn up some change to buffer him or take him out of danger completely. But it hadn't a chance and the sudden shock of pain triggered a reflex reaction. He flashed briefly to his base form faster than a human brain could process and then erupted into an arcing shower of green streaked grey gelatinous liquid out of which clattered a small rectangular metal device, a control band and his earpiece. Keri saw it happen as she rounded one of the metal buildings. Her face registered horror at the sight and then darkened with fury. She charged forward with a roar, dove under the thing with both weapons firing and slid out the other side as the thing staggered, let out a wailing ululation and fell. A low groaning sound rattled out of it.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Jack cursed under his breath over the comms. "Need I remind you we're supposed to be taking this thing, ALIVE?"

Evan had taken off at a hard run when he'd felt the thrum of power. He'd arrived just in time to see the carnage. And then the waves of startled pain hit him. "Oh, no. Dani…?"

Jack came out and saw the mess. "Oh…." He made a face. "We're going to need a bucket…." He scanned the flotsam of debris in the spaces between the buildings and saw a paint bucket. "Hope it's clean…." Luckily it was. "Chris… I'm looking at a big rig. You're new fun zone is track him, tag him and Retcon him."

At his desk in control, Chris snorted. "Uh three steps ahead of you, Jack."

He'd been having fun building remote control drones with some super tiny surveillance tech Dani had given him. To add to the fun, he'd gotten to play with some propulsion tech that meant that, unlike those obnoxiously loud little quad drones the Americans loved so much, his could run silently on the ground or in the air. Apparently it was the finest a decent bounty hunter could buy if he could hop around in space and time. He was already lining the driver up in his sights as he got out of his cab. The soft pop of the air ram made him smile.

Evan was carefully trying to pull together bits of goo into some sort of pile. He looked almost helpless as Jack came up with the bucket. "He hurts."

"Yeah… must have caught him by surprise. Get him into the bucket. Try not to miss any. He hates re-growing things."

Keri was in a fury, kicking at the downed animal. Stephen came out with his scanner and kit. "That's quite enough of that!"

"It killed him!" She was about to fire her weapons at it again.

Jack caught her from behind, pinning her arms. She fought him. "Enough!" He growled in her ear as she tried to get into position to mule kick him in the crotch.

"I'm not sure if it's lucky or not, but all she's managed to do is knock it out by shooting off its testicles." Stephen made a somewhat pained face as he pulled a very large injector from his kit, inserted it between two scales and administered a sedative to the animal so it would stay out. "Poor thing…."

"Poor thing?! Poor thing?! It killed Dani!" She managed to wrest free enough to land the kick in Jack's groin.

He grunted, gritting his teeth and panting hard. "I said, ENOUGH!" He put her face down on the ground, a knee in her back but not with his full weight. He didn't want to hurt her. "Don't make me cuff you!"

"GET OFF ME!" She shrieked.

He bent down, mouth close to her ear. "He's not gone. I promise. So calm down, okay?"

"Um, Jack." Evan approached with the bucket, looking a little pale. "She… has some on her." He gestured to the glob of stuff creeping down her face from her hair.

"Get it! Quick, before it falls into the drain!"

He scooped it up gently and added it into the bucket.

"What are you doing?!"

"It's… Dani. We need to go Jack. He's in so much pain." He saw Keri's mix of relief, anger and confusion clearly on her face.

Jack glanced over and saw the devices lying on the concrete. "Get his control band, his modulator and his earpiece. Clamp the controller on your wrist. Flip it open, hold the bucket and hit the purple button with the swirly thing on it on the third row down. It'll take you to his ship." Evan nodded and did as he'd been instructed, vanishing with the bucket of goo. He blew out a sharp huff of breath. "Now, I'll forgive the cheap shot provided you settle down, Keri. Deal?"

She angrily choked back a half sob. "Just let me up." She shoved him away when he tried to help her to her feet.

"Let's get this beastie crated and get the hell out of here before it's seen." He made a sharp 'clean it up' gesture as he stalked back toward where the cage and forklift were. Give me a good old fashioned con job any day, he grumbled to himself. One man job, in and out… maybe the other in and out, payday, play day, over and done. None of this bureaucratic bullshit. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation. Oh and let's top off the festivities with a big heaping helping of guess who's not getting laid tonight. He kicked the cage as he passed it making it ring like a gong.

"I think you shouldn't have gone for the balls, Keri." Stephen snapped the collar the zoo officials had given them around the animal's thick neck.

"Oh, go fuck yourself!" She stormed off toward the SUV at the back of the complex.

"Wow. Who spiked the coffee today?" Chris' voice said in his ear.

"Mars is in retrograde." Jules' voice followed. "What are you bringing me, Evan?"

"A bucket of… Dani."

"Oh, you're kidding…."

"Not kidding."

She made a face at Chris as she headed down the gangway to the medbay. She heard the distant bang of Dani's ship opening up below and clicked off her mic. The goo was managing to get images to Evan and he paused to collect a couple of pieces of equipment. He appeared in the medbay doorway.

"He says we need to go to compartment 42 indigo and to bring a big bottle of liquid heliocaine." It was one of the storage areas near the bay where Dani kept the ship.

Jules peered into the bucket. "If I didn't know you, Evan, I would think Dani was playing some evil prank on me." Her purple lips pursed a little. "That smells weird."

"He says when you can keep a hair color for more than 3 days, you can talk. I think he's starting to become more aware and that's not necessarily a good thing."

"Oh, yeah. That's Dani…." She opened the cabinet and got the heliocaine. "And I want the whole story when we're done with this."

Evan opened the door to 42 indigo and glanced at Jules. Only he and Jack had known what Dani really was until now. She looked confused as to why the whole back of the room was a massive tank of odd-smelling liquid. He'd been down here with Jack to bring in loads of fish through the bay's hidden entrance for Dani's two-day respites.

"He says dump the heliocaine in the bucket." He had been instructed to set the modulator on the lip of the tank and to plug the two devices into the ports at the ends of the tank.

"Evan, how do you know what he's saying?" She saw the 'oh shit' look and smirked.

He sighed. He'd been too wrapped up in trying to help Dani to worry over much that he was exposing the ability he'd been keeping under wraps. "Don't tell anyone?"

She scowled at him as she began pouring the heliocaine. She shuddered as she realized the… goo was moving a little and absorbing the chemical. "You're a telepath."

"How did you…?"

"Your eyes unfocus when you do it. And your breathing changes a little. Plus, you 'pathed to me in the tunnels, duh."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Technically speaking it wasn't actually me in the tunnels. I'm not so good at being Mr. Mysterious?"

"I don't know why you're so buggy to keep it secret anyway. Like Mr. Mc Goo here trying to hide he's not humanoid. Four eyelids, you goose. I've seen you ducking your head to blink sometimes. No humanoid race in the database has those. Not like we aren't the whole Council for Crazy Town already anyway. " She rolled her eyes. "Our boss can't die. You're a star hybrid and apparently go back together like putty. We hunt aliens. The Doctor parks on the deck…. What's a little more weird added to the mix?"

The goop in the bucket rippled in agitation and Evan winced. "Please don't make him angry. He's basically shouting at me since I'm the only one who can hear him currently. And he's a little loopy from the heliocaine."

"Sorry…."

He finished the adjustments on the one device. "Okay, go flip on the red, blue and orange switches on the other end, please?" She did. He climbed up the ladder to the ledge and sat. "Pass the bucket up."

Rather than pouring Dani in, he submerged the whole bucket and the mass moved out and to the center of the tank. He passed the bucket back down and slid down the ladder rails. He went back to the end of the tank with the master control side of the two devices and keyed in the last sequence. A low hum initiated and an odd gridded matrix cut through the water, rippling the floating material until it expanded and took the rough shape of a cephalopod with ten thick tentacles and two golden disc eyes in triangular slits on its bulbous head. The matrix snapped off and Dani snaked out a tentacle to grab the modulator. He pressed it into the side of his head where the flesh seemed to incorporate it. His four eyelids flicked vertically and horizontally over his eyes to redistribute the slime that protected them.

"There." Dani's voice came over the tank's speaker. "Oh, would you quit staring and dump some fish in here you moony-eyed girl!" His skin was mottled green and grey, but little lines and patterns of multi-colored luminescence danced across it in a rather dazzling display.

"Wow… it's like Picadilly Circus with tentacles." She snickered.

"Oh, that's funny. Ha-ha." The voice was less than amused as Dani drifted wearily to the bottom of the tank. "Let's blow you into goo and see how much you like it."

"Jules…." Evan shook his head slightly and went to the refrigeration units in one wall. "We found perch on the last run. Jack said you love perch."

"I do. Give it." He snatched up the fish before they ever got near the bottom. He stuffed them rapidly into the beak-like structure directly above his tentacles.

"So, Dani?" Jules was watching him intently. "Have you told Keri?"

"No, but I don't have much choice in that now, do I?" The colors on his skin flashed jaggy red and orange.

_Leave it, Jules. Please? He's recovering and cranky._

She sighed. "Sorry, Dani."

"Just go on."

She leaned her head on Evan as he shut the door. "Did I mention I hate retrogrades?"

"That might not have been so bad if you just hadn't talked so much, Jules."

She made a face and shoved at his shoulder. "That wasn't nice."

"But it was true. And sometimes that's more important."

She smirked. "Says 'Mr. Mysterious.'"

Ouch. He clicked on his comm, scanning until he heard Keri's signal as Jules headed back up to medbay. "Dani's resting, Keri. He's safe. I'll bring you to him."

"If I still have a job and Jack doesn't boot me out the second he's in…. Somehow I don't think kicking the boss man in the nuts is good for my career."

Evan winced. "Oh…." Well, seems like the whole day's circling the drain…. He sighed.

"Yeah. I'll apologize later when I'm not so freaked out." She breathed for a beat. "Take good care of him, will you?"

"Already done."

"Thanks."

She clicked off and he leaned against the wall for a moment, giving himself a sort of mental rinse cycle with a quick meditation. All hail meditation the telepath's dear friend.. _Fleshers…. Odd things._ The thought bubbled up from deep down and he knew the star in him was rolling. They were getting some solar flares lately, too, and that was waking it more, though not usually to the point of full coherence. Evan had been practicing trying to 'talk' to it more. Maybe that was why Jack was cranky tonight. He'd gotten the hell startled out him earlier finding Evan in lotus position on the sofa with eyes like a star field and the metal lamp behind him ringing like a bell. But at least it had shown him how to contain the tremors to a smaller area when he was doing minor things like that.

Jack had been a little weird since The Doctor had visited. He thought about yesterday. It was common for Evan to have models in for studio time. He painted a lot of nudes and, well, he liked looking at the male form. So, of course, most of the models were young men who were aesthetically pleasing and worked for whatever project he had in mind. He hired most of them from a local art program that had open studio time, though now and again he tapped a modeling agency if someone in their listings caught his eye. An artist working with models tends to give them basic direction and then finish arrangement by hand. It's understood. Jack had come up during a session where he was arranging three models and he'd felt a little knife of jealousy waver off of him before he retreated to let him work. Evan had sighed, gotten his camera out, taken some photos for references and sent the models on before coming out and sliding into Jack's lap on the sofa.

"Jack, you realize that what goes on in the studio is strictly business, right? It has nothing to do with sex or us as a couple."

Jack took in a breath and let it out slowly. "Intellectually, I know. But all of a sudden I've got a green-eyed monster." He rested his head against Evan's. "Sorry. I guess almost losing you has my wires all crossed."

Evan kissed his temple. "It's okay. Just try and leash the monster, please?"

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask."

Evan pushed off the wall and headed down to the corridor that led to the loading dock where they would transfer the escaped animal to holding until it was retrieved. He couldn't imagine the zoo facilitators were going to take too kindly to its testicles being blown off. Maybe Stephen and Jules could fix it before they came to get it.

Jack's voice sounded in his ear. "Hey, sexy, we're on the way down."

"How is the passenger?"

"Oh, Stephen thinks he might be able to fix it. Keri'll be in topside with the SUV." He was behind the wheel of a large delivery truck. Stephen was in back with the animal, monitoring and assessing it. He pulled into a warehouse and onto a platform.

"I'll open the gates for you… and have an ice pack waiting in your office."

"Thanks, Evan."

There was a low rumble as the platform began to descend. "You're welcome."

Alex was coming down the tunnel. "I'll help settle it in. You go get the ice pack." He gestured with his head, a very rare amused look on his face.

He hustled up, snatched a cold pack from medbay and deposited it on Jack's desk. Keri should be stepping in…. The alarms sounded as he hit the top step. He went down to meet her at the bottom of the lift.

"Where is he?"

"I'll take you down to him. Just…," he took a breath, "are you sure you're ready to see the truth?

"I've seen him naked."

"Oh, this is so much different from that…"

"I'm ready." She gave him a stubborn look.

"Okay…."

She wasn't. In fact, seeing Dani made her knees go out and Evan supported her for several moments. "He's…a…a…."

"A cephalopod. Basically, a squid, yes." Dani had drifted off under the influence of the heliocaine and rested at the bottom of his tank, the siphons along his upper body moving lazily as he breathed. "A very unusual squid that changes its shape."

One of the golden eyes rolled in its socket and the four eyelids flicked over it in rhythm. "Keri…" The tentacles flexed slowly and he pulled himself up the side of the tank. "I was going to tell you…."

"Well you should have before…." She pulled away from Evan. "I would have preferred knowing it BEFORE we started having sex."

Evan slipped away down the corridor. This wasn't something he needed to be involved in. He headed up to Jack's office.

A soft chuff sound came over the speaker. "I didn't think it would be…."

"Serious? So you intended to just have a one night stand? Have some fun and move on?" She stepped up to the glass, studying him.

He sank to the bottom of the tank. "It's how things usually go." His bio-luminous patterns were slow, mournful looking.

"Well, I'm not exactly 'the usual', am I?"

"No. You're not." A tentacle came up and stroked the glass in front of her face. "You're not angry?"

"Oh, I'm plenty angry. But…," she sighed softly. "I fell for you the first time you made mac and cheese for me."

A soft burble, a laugh perhaps, came over the speaker. "Mac and cheese? Not like that's hard. You read a box."

"Still the first time a man ever cooked for me…." She blushed and took a deep breath. "Fact is, I love you squid boy. So we're going to have to figure this out."

He shifted, tentacles moving sluggishly. "Right now, about all I'm up to figuring out is healing. I'm tired and need to rest."

She touched the glass. "I'll be here. Get some sleep."

Evan found Jack in his office with his pants down, scowling down at his groin. "How bad is it?"

"That woman has a hell of a kick for such a short shit." He turned around, gesturing to his black and blue groin.

Evan grimaced. "Oh. Sit down."

He grabbed a pillow from the sofa and tossed it into his chair. Evan took up the ice pack and gently settled it over his bruises, making him hiss. "Gah! I'm definitely not into ice play…."


	6. Who Watches The Watchers

Evan wondered what sort of statement it was about their lives that he'd become accustomed to seeing Jack die. He wasn't entirely numbed to it. It still pained him because he knew it hurt. He just didn't get freaked out over it anymore. He had died again twice since his first time. It never got less unpleasant. It just varied in how long it took to recover, that was all. There were definitely cases where it was advantageous to have teammates who could be killed and pop back up behind your enemy. It was not, however, their favorite tactic for obvious reasons. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, scowling at the puckered gunshot scar on his left shoulder and the still annoyingly visible patchwork scars along his belly. So unfair that they didn't fade away…. He'd been very self-conscious about the scars from his first death originally. Jack using them as a sort connect-the-dots play board had lessened that a bit. The skin was sensitive around them and having them nibbled did drive him just a little bit crazy. Still… he preferred not to have marks like that.

Jack peered into the bathroom and shook his head. "Stop fretting over it."

"I can't help it."

"I like your scars. They make you look rakish." He wrapped his arms around him from behind and kissed his cheek. "Now, get dressed."

"Jack… if you need to go do… other things tonight…."

"It's your opening. I'm not missing it."

Evan turned to face him, cupping his cheek. "You're not breaking a promise for me."

Jack took a deep breath, jaw flexing slightly. "I'm not forgetting. I went early this morning while you were delivering the pieces to the gallery."

Ianto's birthday… the bump in the road they went over every year. Evan didn't fret over the fit of mood that came with it. In fact, he would be more worried if he didn't have it. It meant he still cherished the first man he'd truly loved and it spoke well of Jack's capacity to stay in love.

"Good." Evan hugged him.

"So, it's done. It's all good and now we can go and celebrate your first European solo show. I'm not missing the chance to go out looking all studly in the new suit you got me."

Evan chuckled. "It does show your butt off nicely."

Jack tilted his face up. "I'm proud of you. I really am. You've managed this even with work."

"It gives me a way to relax." He shrugged.

"No downplaying your talent. It's not allowed." He turned and grabbed Evan's outfit from the hook on the door and gave it to him. "I'm taking you to dinner first. They never have anything good at those receptions. We'll both be hungry if we don't eat first. So dress." He popped him lightly on the butt.

Evan was a little uncomfortable with the fawning women and young men at the reception. Having Jack look at him like he was on the menu was one thing. Having half a room full of people do it was disconcerting, especially when he could feel the lust rippling off of some of them like a palpable thing.

"You okay?" Jack whispered in his ear.

"Yeah. It's just been a while since I had to do one of these. The last one was a group show Stateside and I was able to kind of stay out of center ring. I'm glad you're here with me." He took a sip of the wine he carried, scanning the crowd. "Jules and Chris came!"

He gestured toward the entryway where they were just stepping in. She was looking rather lovely in her unique evening wear. The dress was sort of futuristic looking, red with intricate black designs; her heels were very high, showing off her legs. Her hair was up in an intricate twist, her normal color other than a twist of brilliant crimson woven into it. Chris looked rather pleased when heads turned in admiration of the woman on his arm. She'd obviously helped him pick something to wear because he was actually looking fairly fashionable.

"Wow," chuckled Jack. "She got him to dress up. I'm stunned."

Evan waved to them and she started over toward them with Chris in tow. She paused and rerouted momentarily to look at one of the paintings and then started giggling as Chris blushed almost purple. They came over to where Evan was.

"Aren't you a cheeky thing putting up nakey paintings of the boss!"

Jack looked proud. "I like being an artist's muse."

Chris shuddered. "That was really more of you than I needed to see, Jack."

Evan chuckled. "Sorry, Chris. I'm guessing Jules didn't warn you about the subject matter?"

"No, she didn't"

She pinched his cheek playfully. "Because you wouldn't have come. Everyone else will be here, too. They're just running behind."

Stephen wandered in alone, his mode of dress very subdued. Gwen, Rhys and Anwen came in not long after and Rhys' eyes went wide as he saw the paintings and Anwen swatted his hand away with a scoff as he tried to shield her eyes.

"Da., it's art! Perfectly okay to look at art! It's not dirty or anything! It's just the human body! Besides, I'm not a baby!"

"MALE human bodies!"

Gwen chuckled. "And all completely natural, Rhys."

"Yeah. See? Mum knows the way of things. There's Evan!" Evan felt a little bad for Rhys. She dodged through the crowd to him. "Hi, Evan! Your show is mega lush!"

He hugged her gently. "Is that a good thing?"

"Oh, yeah." She grinned.

Evan tilted his head to the side slightly. "Look at you! You'll be as tall your mother soon."

"Think so?"

"I do. And just as pretty, too." She blushed a little.

"Oy! You flirting with my daughter?" Gwen came up and hugged him. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. Hello, Rhys." He smiled.

"She could've said what we'd be looking at…."

"And you wouldn't have come…." Gwen smirked at him.

Jules and Jack both laughed at that. Chris and Rhys looked at each other.

"You, too?" Rhys asked.

"Yeah."

Even Alex showed up for a short time and Evan felt so much better having his friends around him to celebrate. By the end of the evening he'd sold all but the portrait of Jack, which he refused four offers on.

"You should sell it," Jack said.

"No. That one we keep. I made it for you, so you could see how I see you." He tickled him lightly. "You just like that other people want your bod."

"Yeah…." He laughed. "I do, because they can't have me. I love being a tease" He grinned.

"You're so bad."

"Good at being bad, that's me."

They collected the last painting before they headed back to the loft. Once they were settled in bed, Evan stroked his cheek gently, starting his song.

"Evan?"

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

Evan smiled. "I know, Jack. And I love you."

"I just want to make sure you hear it every day as much as possible."

He kissed his temple lightly as he sang him off to his slumber.

* * *

Evan and Jack's next few nights off didn't coincide. He'd gone for a walk, ending up in the park near The Hub. He'd been thinking about The Doctor a lot for some reason. He'd gotten more than just a glimpse of future Jack when he'd touched him. He'd also felt the aching sadness he held inside. He wished he could do something for him. But he knew he wasn't capable of it. He was mostly just a telepath who was hard to kill thanks to the star using him as a handy bunk bed. He looked up at the sky, listening to the gentle singing of the stars. The star in him rolled, also listening.

_So beautiful they sing._ There was a stretching sensation and it almost felt like his skin was breathing. He felt the soft chiming of its half asleep energy inside of him.

_I only understand a little…._

_No. You are too young. But I can tell you their stories if you will listen._

_I will. I want to listen. You met The Doctor. Is there a way to help him?_

_Ah. Fleshy oddness his empty hole inside. His living machine has it, too. It lives as a planet lives, but is not a planet and feels fleshy strange things. It said it was fleshy once. It asked if I enjoyed it. _It sounded amused.

_Do you? Enjoy it, I mean?_

It seemed confused. _It simply is._

_Oh…. So… you were never up… there?_

_Long ago, I think. We do not always remember. _It was more awake now, and the nearby light post was beginning to vibrate and ring softly with the influence of its energy. _The Rose fleshy which makes them have holes was taken away, yes? To a place the Time Lord no longer can go?_

_I think so. In Jack's memories, The Doctor told him it was a closed off reality on the other side of the Void?_

_Void is where we pass to burn again when we go cold. I know Void. _

_You can cross it?_

_We will cross when we grow cold._

_But… can we cross any other time?_

_Stars only cross when we grow cold and wish to burn again. But we are different. Warm, but not burning. Fleshy and odd._

_Tell me about them…. _He looked at the stars, listening to them more closely as the star within him explained what some of them were singing. He lost track of time.

"Evan?"

Jack's hand on his shoulder almost made him jump out of his skin. "Oh, Jack!"

He nodded his head toward the still ringing light post. "Were you doing that on purpose?"

He blushed. "No. I'm sorry. It was telling me about the songs they sing." He looked up.

He wrapped an arm about him. "You probably shouldn't do that so near the public…."

"I… I wasn't thinking."

Jack chuckled softly. "Maybe you were thinking too much." He rested his head against Evan's soft curls. "I'm done for the night provided no calls come in. Going out or staying in?"

"Going out. I've been in the studio all day. I could stand to be out."

"Then let's find good food and drink!" He smiled and danced him toward the sidewalk.

"You're in a mood." Evan laughed.

Jack shrugged and settled Evan on his arm. "Just happy to be out in the air with you."

As they headed out of the park, they didn't realize they were being watched. "675 confirm. Signal source located. It is terrestrial in origin. Target fits the description we were given." The man's skin was almost as dark as his clothing, blue-black. His shaven head glinted in the dim lights as he casually followed the pair. Harkness. It would figure. He seemed to turn up any time weird things happened. He had quite a history of it, in fact, if the files they'd hacked were any indication. So, was it really a surprise he was in possession of the boy his employer was looking for? He tucked away the device he'd been using to triangulate. He sauntered along slowly looking for all the world like just any old guy out for an evening stroll. Well, if any old guy happened to look like he could crack your head like a walnut in the bend of his arm, anyway.

* * *

Ezekiel Cross absolutely hated observation missions. They were as boring as an assignment could be: sit and watch and don't get caught. He much preferred a good search and destroy. This mission was leading up to an equally boring live capture if he was seeing the right of it. His operatives had been all over the world on missions which could, at times, have ended up putting the whole world in chaos, but hadn't. These days it was often private wealth and corporations who had the necessary fees rather than governments. It suited him fine. Private contracts tended to have less restrictions and red tape. Fewer restrictions meant a lot more fun. He was sitting at one of the cafés not far from the area all of the sightings of the boy, his lover Harkness and all of their Torchwood cronies tended to pop up.

The girl, Juliana, with her oddball monster shoes and tutu-fringed jumpers, was a predictable little thing. Here she was, per the usual, picking up pastries on her way in to work. Today she had her friend the computer geek in tow. He tried not to smirk as he pretended not to be watching them and fiddled with a tablet computer the way many a suited business man would at a coffee shop that time of morning. Fraternizing when you should be concentrating; it was a good way to get yourself perished. He wondered that they were this open considering their last base had been blown to bits. But then, he'd had his boys sniffing around for weeks and they hadn't been able to pinpoint where exactly the entrances were. They also couldn't locate the main mass of the facility. Somehow, every time they tried to follow them to an entrance they just lost them. It wasn't imperative they got into the base, but there was that bonus if they could snag any advanced or alien technology in the process.

The main payday, though, was the boy, currently listed in public record as Evan Elijah Smith, residing in a loft over a set of artist studios with attached hangout commonly referred to as The Lair because of all the dragon artwork painted all over the outside of it. But he'd had a lot of names if their research was accurate. It was hard to say sometimes. Funny thing about Catholic churches even in America: they had a tendency to mysteriously burn, taking lots of records with them. Made you wonder what all those grey hairs in black habits were up to in there, honestly. Working some of their recent jobs, he'd started to wonder. But it seemed to him, those nuns had a vested interest in the kid his employer was tracking. Every time they'd had a whiff of him in the last 25 years, he'd vanished like a puff of smoke. But then he made the mistake of getting himself noticed: fancy little artist running with Torchwood. Now there was a good cover if people were hunting you down. But maybe the kid didn't know he was hunted.

He saw Jameson across the way loading paper into a vending box and gave him the lower lip rub signal that indicated he was to try and track these two to the entrance again. He'd decided that if they didn't find any of the access points today, they'd just wait for Harkness and his little boyfriend to be out and about on their own. It would be easy. Their employers had given them some special tranq darts for the kid. They said it would make him easier to handle and package for shipping back to the States. Harkness, they knew was easy enough: silenced sniper with enough shots to the head put him down long enough for a snag and drag.


	7. Taken

Evan wasn't sure what to think of the reviews of his first solo show in Europe and the second one he'd gotten as a result. The praise had been heavy for his work and his talent, but he was being tagged as "gay artist" in most of the articles. It annoyed him. It made it seem like it was just some schtick, some gimmick to promote his work. They couldn't just say "talented up and coming artist". No. They had to throw "gay" in there, too.

Jack pulled him into his lap on the sofa. "Hey, at least they're acknowledging you're talented. That's a start."

Evan sighed against Jack's neck. "I know. Moody artist crap…."

"Well, drink your coffee." He kissed his nose. "We've got the first full day off together we've had in months. I'm not wasting it. We are just spending the day wandering, shopping, whatever the hell we feel like doing." It was middle of the week, so a good time for that kind of thing.

Since Evan loved to walk, they did, going from place to place aimlessly as was his habit when given no set schedule. It did both of them good just tossing aside structure for a while. They just enjoyed doing things together, being silly, whatever they felt like doing. In short, they relaxed, something they got precious little chance to do. There were reasons it was said Torchwood shortened your lifespan. If the monsters didn't get you, sometimes the workload did. They were just so grateful to be having a normal day together that they didn't notice they were trailed throughout it.

They would have needed to be utterly paranoid to catch it, really. They were smart about it, switching off frequently and never looking the same. They waited until they were in a less busy area. The first shot was to Evan since he was considered the most dangerous of the pair due to unpredictability. The dart was a direct hit to the lower back, right above a kidney.

"Ah! What the…?" He immediately felt his world slip sideways. "Jack?"

Cross smiled as the driver pulled the van around and, seeing no witnesses, his team poured out, pumping rounds into Harkness as he turned to try and catch his staggering lover. Blood sprayed both of them and Evan tried to support Jack as he stumbled. Both of them tumbled into the mouth of the alley they'd been crossing. Evan tried to call the star to the surface and nothing happened. He tried to snag the minds of their attackers. Nothing. His head was spinning and he felt like he was going to puke. It felt a little like someone had hung him by his ankles and started spinning him over a vast pit of nothing. His heart felt like it was trying to crawl out of him and he could barely breathe. He knew Jack had a gun in a shoulder holster. He always did. But his arms and legs were wobbly and not cooperative. His eyes wouldn't focus properly. Everything was distorting sickeningly. There was no way he could get things functioning well enough together to get to the weapon.

"Run, Evan…." Jack managed to pant out. He was riddled with holes.

"I can't…." Then two of the men grabbed him and started dragging him toward the van. Panic took hold of him and he started struggling. "Jack!"

Cross cursed. "Hit him with another dart! It's not putting him out!"

He was kicking, now, the fear pushing down what he now realized were drugs in his system. Two more darts put an end to that. For a moment all he could do was howl in a mixture of fear and rage. Then one of them got tired of it and just cracked him over the head with the butt of their firearm.

"Idiot!" Cross reached back and popped the one who'd hit him with a meaty fist. "You damage the merchandise, we don't get paid!"

"What about Harkness? Do we want him?"

"Nah. They said leave him as a lesson. Just pull him behind that dumpster there, quick. We've got a limited window to get the hell out of here before our loop plays out and their little hacker can track us on the CCTV."

They did as they were told, doing one last check to make sure no one was watching. Clear, they closed up the van and were gone. Shot through as he was, it took a while for Jack's body to jerk him back into consciousness. He arched up from the ground with a gasping scream, looking about him.

"EVAN!" He got to his feet and found Evan's phone on the ground, case cracked as it had been flung from his pocket during the struggle. He scooped it up as he ran past it. He pulled his Torchwood earpiece from his pocket and snapped it on. "Torchwood, we are code red, repeat code red! Evan and I were attacked and they've taken him! It was a dark blue van, first three of the license xray delta niner."

Dani's voice came over the channel in a moment. "Stand still so I can lock on you, Jack! I'll pull you into the bay!"

Jack slid to a halt, mind balking at standing there while Evan was being dragged further away. Hurry… hurry. Not again. I'm not doing this again…. "Chris?! You have that van yet?! They can't be that far away!"

"Fuck!" Chris growled. "I'm sorry, Jack, they've hacked through the CCTV system and locked me out. I'm trying to break through…."

No…. This can't be happening. He was grateful when he felt the pull of the transport beam. Dani fell into step with him as he bolted out of the ship and up toward main control.

"What the hell happened, Jack?"

"They darted him and shot me. I came to and they were gone."

"Professionals, sounds like. And someone who knows drugs don't work so well on you."

Jack saved his breath for running. He rushed into the main deck. "Anything, Chris?"

He was frantically trying to find the van. The plates were listed as stolen, so they wouldn't yield any useful clues. For all they know, they'd ditched the van already.

Jack's cell phone rang. It was an unknown number. He answered it, patching it through so the whole team could hear. "Harkness."

"You want your little boy toy to stay safe and sound, Harkness, you best tell your geek to back off and quit looking." Cross's voice was almost a rumbling purr. Grabbing the kid had been way too easy. So much for the mighty Captain Jack Harkness. He was underwhelmed.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, just to get out of this piece of shit country. So, if you want the joy of knowing Evan stays alive ever after, stay the hell out of our way. Understand?"

Jack glanced at Chris who was making more and more angry faces as his fingers flew over the console. Jack could see he was trying to get stealth access to certain civic systems they weren't usually forced to use. Dani, meantime was trying to triangulate the call location on the cell towers.

Gwen mouthed the word "American" and Jack nodded. Jules had come up with kit in hand. It was her week for being in the field.

"What's this about?"

"Not about you, Captain. Well, other than an abject lesson in the fact that you really need to tighten up your security. Have fun with that." The line went dead and Jack slammed a fist into the desk in frustration as Dani shook his head.

"Sorry, Jack."

"Sorry doesn't…."

"Shut up!" Chris cursed under his breath as he pulled up his remote control programs and launched three of the quad drones he and Jules had spent a night planting in different areas as an emergency surveillance system. "I need quiet to do all this at once."

Keri got on the next console over. "Give me # 3, that'll free you up a little."

"Give me # 2," Dani said.

He did it and went right back to trying to find them a stealthy way to access cameras without being traced. But, by the time they got the cameras back, there was no sign.

* * *

They'd swapped to a different van they'd stashed. The two in the back kept guns on Evan. Their employer had noted this young man as a possible alien entity whose abilities were largely unknown, though they did know he had telepathy from some scant records they'd recovered. When Evan groaned, they looked to Cross.

"How many darts did you put in him?"

"Three."

"He shouldn't be waking already. Hell, that much should be bordering on toxic." He rubbed a hand over his bald head in irritation.

"Jack…." The name came in a hiss. The star was roiling inside him, angry but unable to do anything. It couldn't even speak to him through whatever they had pumped into him.

"Tag him again!" Two more darts put him out again.

Jameson cursed. "I hope we have enough to keep him out until we get him loaded, Cross."

"We do. There's a whole case of them back there and more on the plane."

* * *

Chris grumbled. "Might as well dock the drones. They'll be out of their range by now. They said 'get out of the country' and they're American. That means plane or boat. I doubt some American kidnappers are going to go running deeper into Europe."

Dani smirked. "Never underestimate the human stupid factor. Watch the trains anyway."

Chris nodded, but was focusing on the airports and ships. He had a gut feeling. "I'm thinking mercs or military. That means they're probably not flying coach. They most likely have a private jet or military transport. It's not like you can exactly take a kidnap victim through the regular routes."

* * *

At the airport they were in a hangar and trying to get Evan out of the van as he was coming awake yet again and starting to struggle. Cross was definitely starting to get testy. "Fries! I thought you said this shit would keep him out!"

The team medic rushed over with a scanner provided to them by their employers. "What the hell?! His metabolism is burning the dart doses out so fast it's not as effective as it should be. Dart him again so I can get an IV on him. It goes along with our cover story anyway." He shrugged. "He'll look all pathetic and sick and off to good old America for the star treatment." He smirked.

Jameson seemed to be taking great joy in shooting the boy again as he struggled. Cross gave him a warning look as Fries rushed to get the IV in him. "Get him on board before Harkness has a chance to figure out which way we went."

Travis stuck his head out of the jet. "I'll give them this much, they don't waste their cash on slackers. Their tech head's good, just not good enough." He grinned. "Our clearance is put in as an emergency medical transport and ready to launch on your word, sir."

"Excellent. Move your asses, gentlemen. I'm sick of all the damned bland European food. The sooner I'm back Stateside, the happier I'll be."

Evan was vaguely aware of what was going on around him. He could hear the voices as if they were filtering down to him through a long, watery tunnel. He knew they were taking him back to the States. He knew for certain these people in no way had his welfare in mind. Whatever they wanted, he had a notion they wouldn't spare any atrocity to get it. The drugs were causing him pain. Right now it was like a dull ache. But it got a little worse the more they put into him. The energies that lived in him were twisting in the tendrils of chemicals like an alligator death rolling in a snare, violent and more desperate the more tangled they became. Alligators in snares eventually drowned because they couldn't get air to breathe. He feared that might be the fate for both parts of his consciousness if they continued to keep drugging him for long.

Oh, Jack, he thought. You have to get me out of here. His hands clenched as he was strapped to a gurney and a whimper escaped him. Please, stop twisting… stop twisting…. He couldn't even pass out properly to avoid the agony of it. He was stuck in this restless limbo. It would have been less cruel to wrap him head to toe in duct tape and then peel off a small bit at a time in painfully slow tugs for the next hundred years.

They got him secured on the plane, loaded the last of their gear and started their taxi sequence. Cross kicked back and smiled. Soon enough he'd be back home, having a nice rare steak, and drinking a beer that didn't taste like motor oil.

* * *

"I've got 5 private jets departing Cardiff. One is marked as an emergency medical transport. That's a handy cover for having someone tied down and drugged, don't you think?" Chris smirked. "Sloppy."

"Get their details and track them, Chris."

Jack's face had a look Dani recognized quite easily. It was the face he wore when he was at his most dangerous. That expression said get in his way at just the wrong time and you'd not live to regret it. That face told Dani that Evan had what he'd wanted back in the day: Jack's love. At least he's got one worth fighting for now. Dani smirked. John sure as shark shit hadn't been.

He pushed himself upright from the console. "You know, boss, with a little rule breaking I can beat them to wherever they're slotted to go."

Chris considered. "I could probably keep him from being deported for it."

Jack looked at them. "Gwen…."

"I'll look after things, Jack." She gave him a solemn nod.

Jules stood straight. "I'm field medic, so you're not leaving me."

Keri rolled her shoulders. "If squiddy goes, so do I. Not letting him have all the fun."

"And that's the limit once we account for gear and bringing back another passenger. Tava's not a troop ship. She's an armed racer, all a bounty hunter needs. You just make sure I don't lose her for this, spiky." He gave Chris a pointed look, wagging a finger at him. He looked at Jack as Alex thumped down a couple of crates of weapons and started helping them gear up. "Anything happens to either of my babies and you'll owe me big, Jack, oh-so big."

"None of you have to do this…."

"Oh, shut your gobbering goop. Of course we do." Dani rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Damn fool…."

"Evan is family, Jack." Jules checked her clips and snapped them onto her belt. And this time, she vowed, I'm not hesitating to pull the trigger.

He took a deep breath. He was putting his whole team in danger for one person, someone he should be going on his own to rescue. They weren't even sure who they were facing. But not a single one of them judged him for it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He tightened the thigh straps on his holsters, settled the weapons into them and straightened the coat. "Let's go." Dani gave him the quick, complex set of hand bumps that had once been their good luck charm before going out on runs as he strode past, checking his own weapons on the move. Keri slung the remaining pack of spares over her shoulder.

Chris shot the coordinates he'd gotten from the plane's flight plan down to Dani's ship. "Enjoy South Dakota…."

"Oh, goodie," muttered Dani. "It'll be snow up to our balls this time of year. That means me in a suit and stuck in one form." He made a face. "Not my favorite way to fight. I much prefer being able to play it fast and dirty."

"We'll manage," Jack assured as they strode up the ramp side by side looking rather like a pair of Wild West gunslingers in their long coats.

"Manage? Like hell. We'll do like we've always done: outshine and outfox." He snorted as he went into the control module and stroked the control panels of his ship. "Well, looks like my baby's not done flying just yet, hey? I just hope those stupid 'Mericains don't still shoot first and ask questions later."


	8. In Flight

Travis was monitoring things as they took off and cursed. "Cross, we may have a problem…."

"What now?" Cross stood and approached his bank of computers.

"I'm showing alien technology launching out of the Cardiff hot zone."

"What?!" He peered over his shoulder. "Son of a…. They didn't say a damned thing about these people having access to a ship!"

Jameson scowled. "They going to shoot us down with the freak on board?"

"I doubt it. But they're going to be able to get ahead of us and possibly hit us on the ground. Shit…."

He stalked back to his seat and called Harris up at the South Dakota installation to put them on alert. He gave him orders and then hung up. He scowled, resting his chin on his broad chest. So much for a nice steak and a beer.

* * *

Jack had Dani hang back as he thought. His fingers drummed at the console. "You could use the transport beam…."

He gave him a horrified look. "Jack… 30,000 feet up, two moving points. Do you really want me to risk that? No. Our best bet is to get him back on the ground."

Jack let out a huff of breath. "You're right." He ran a hand through his hair. "I just…"

Dani gripped his forearm gently. "I know, Jack. I know."

The look in Dani's eyes made him take a step back. "Anything on those scans?"

He took a slow breath. Chris had patched them in through some satellites to gather intel on the location the plane was headed to. It was a remote air strip out in the badlands. "Looks like they've dug in and made themselves a little den. Whoever is backing them has some money in them. There are four structures above ground and heat signatures indicating a fairly large complex underneath. "

"Well, let's scout ahead since we can't do anything from up here." He sighed and headed to the center compartment, passing Keri as she came forward. She glanced askance at Jack as he passed. There was something… weird on his face she couldn't quite place.

"All your weapons banks are back online and ready to go, Dani." She leaned in to kiss his cheek and paused, seeing something weird in his face, too. When he realized she saw it, it immediately vanished. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just… worried about this."

"What do you think they want with him?"

"I don't know." He reached over and adjusted their altitude. "But I have a feeling they'll wish they'd left him be."

* * *

The installation in the South Dakota badlands wasn't meant to withstand heavy assaults, really. It was just a place to hide out and wait for jobs. One of the military's rocket drones could put a world of hurt on the upper levels of it given cause. If they weren't careful, they were going to find out how well it could withstand alien weaponry. The ship that had been spotting rocketing out of Cardiff had quickly vanished from radar. All they knew was that it was small, fast and not like anything they had seen before. Cross had told them to not take any chances. They were to keep visual track on the sky and shoot down anything non-human that came into range.

Harris had scrambled the men who were at the base and had them pull RPGs and other heavy ordnance up to the surface bunkers. He also got their two on-call pilots into their craft on standby. They weren't a huge operation. About 100 people were in the base at any given time waiting to be sent out on missions. This week there were only 50. But they were mostly highly trained ex-military from around the world and most of them were among the most bloodthirsty bastards he'd ever met. Some of them could be problematic, but Cross had found that cutting pay when they were too much trouble did a great deal toward keeping them in line. He went over their placements and checked his teams. Everything was set. Now they just had to wait for Torchwood. He figured they wouldn't be long.

* * *

Dani brought them in low, hugging the landscape. The system beeped, indicating that human life forms were present. And then the alarms sounded. They were being targeted by another aircraft. "Bollocks…." If he wanted to shield, he risked being visible to radar. "Let's try evasion, first…." He strapped himself into the command chair. "If you two aren't sitting and strapped in, you might want to right now," he called to the others. "Keri, you take the gunnery pods."

Dani managed to dodge the first rocket and it slammed into the side of a butte. Primitive crap, but it could still damage Tava.

"What are they firing at us?" Jack had come forward, lurching as the ship bucked.

"Told you to strap in!"

"Three more incoming!" Keri managed to hit one of the missiles with the pulse cannons.

"Heat seekers…." He was busy trying to reroute things. "Let's give them a run…. You really ought to sit down, Jack."

His voice was almost maniacal and sing-song as he accelerated and the ship lunged forward. It had been a while since he'd done any high speed atmospheric flying. He suddenly found he was enjoying the hell out of it. He shot Tava through the complex switchbacks of long dead riverbeds, but he was having trouble shaking the last two missiles. He and Keri were so engrossed in trying to deal with the missiles that it turned out to be a good thing Jack was clinging to the backs of their seats for dear life.

"Dani!"

An Apache helicopter suddenly blocked the channel ahead of them and launched another pair of missiles.

"NO!" He tried to slip past the Apache. One of its missiles tried to follow them, hitting the copter's blades and it burst into a fireball, blowing Tava toward the rock face. The original two missiles were consumed, but the second of the copter's projectiles had arced and was still in pursuit. Alarms were shrieking through the ship. "Brace for impact!" There was a grating groan as the hull dragged across rock that made his teeth clench. "Oh, so sorry, baby…." He muttered as they were jostled.

"Shitshitshit! Gunnery pod two is toast!" Keri banged her fist on the arm of her seat and shifted her focus to the two pods still functioning.

"Gun it, Dani!" Jack had been tossed to his knees between them and he saw the blip that was the remaining missile gaining as they were slowed by the landscape.

"Gah!" He was frantically trying to correct course so he could accelerate.

"Too, late! It's too close for me to blow it!" She couldn't get a good bead on it with the pod on that side gone.

They heard Jules shriek in the middle compartment as the rear of the ship lurched from the explosive impact.

"Dammit! Jack, get your ass in a seat! I don't want to wait a week for you to grow your bones back together! We're going down!" He looked pained as the ground raced up in the view screen. "So, so, so sorry, baby…." He caressed the console as he tried to at least lessen the impact.

The Apache which had first fired on them arrived on the scene, following at a distance as the ship sped to the ground. "Odin, this is Hugin," the pilot radioed the base. "Munin is down with all crew lost. Enemy craft is also down."

Harris scowled. "Hugin, make sure there are no survivors and see if we can salvage any of the alien tech off that thing."

"Roger that, Odin."

He brought the chopper around as the ship rolled and bounced twice and then slid to a rest with the screams and groans of straining metals.

Dani had blacked out for a moment on impact and he snapped into consciousness in dim, red tinged smoke. The acrid fumes of damaged instrumentation made him cough and wheeze. He realized he was upside down. "Keri?!"

"I'm okay… OW!" He heard her thump to the ceiling. "Still okay."

They heard Jules, her voice edgy with fear. "Jack?!" She started coughing violently.

There was a groan behind Dani. "Sit tight, Jules! Don't move!"

Keri approached Dani and helped him get disentangled from his harness. "Thanks." He snapped on an emergency torch from under his seat. "I need my suit from below. You two check Jules." They ran to the next compartment together and he continued on to climb to the next deck, which was now above them.

Jack steadied Jules as Keri helped her to unhook her harness. She clung to him for a moment and he just let her do it. "I thought we were going to die…."

"Not with Dani at the controls." He grinned at her.

"Yeah," he called from the hold. "I've never lost a passenger yet." He found the locker that held his environmental suit and got it out. He muttered, "Hate this thing…. Screw it." He got into it the easy way: oozing. It was already getting cold in the ship since it was half buried in snow and parts of the hull were battered all to hell. He'd have no choice but to wear the suit on the trek to the base. They'd overshot it by a good bit during the chase. He had no intention of being forced into a suspended state while people were shooting at them. He snapped on the helmet.

Keri went still. "We have more company." They could all hear the low thrum of the chopper landing.

* * *

Harris called Cross. "We just shot down that ship out of Cardiff, sir."

Cross relaxed marginally. The sounds the boy strapped to the gurney were making were downright eerie and putting his nerves on edge. "Make sure they're no longer a threat. I'm willing to bet Harkness came for his boy toy himself. If so, he'll still be alive even if the rest are dead. If you have to, lock him up. If nothing else, maybe we can get a sideline selling him back to Torchwood. They won't want to lose their indestructible soldier."

"I'll take care of it. I'll make sure Sheppard has your traditional victory meal ready for you when you land." The grin was apparent in his voice.

"Appreciate that. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Make sure we're secure and then we'll worry about celebrating."

"Of course, sir."

"See you in three hours, Harris."

He clicked the phone shut and rubbed a hand slowly over his head. The sooner they got rid of this kid, the better he liked it. Being in a plane with him for hours had his dander up. He'd come to the decision that he wouldn't even contemplate what anyone wanted with him. Who knew what sick things people did anymore? He'd even been reading stories about so-called 'murder clubs' where they abducted homeless people and other undesirables and kept them in places where people with enough money could go and just abuse them to death. He might be a mercenary, but he was far from the worst person on the planet. The scariest people were the ones who were sick AND had power. He just worked for a living.

The plane hit a pocket of turbulence and the boy made a sound that was part whimper, part growl. He stood and approached the back of the plane where Fries was keeping watch. "Can't you keep him quiet?"

Fries scowled at him. "What do you want me to do, gag him?"

"Why not?"

"Because he might suffocate? Look, you want merchandise to hand off, you're just going to have to deal with the noise. I can't give him any more than I'm giving him. As it is, I'm having to give it to him in small, steady doses to keep him from going into cardiac arrest." He gestured to the dose timer on the IV bag. "Whatever that concoction is, his body doesn't like it one bit." He reached out and lifted one of Evan's eyelids, hissed in surprise at what he saw and backed up. "And I will be extremely happy to hand him off to his new owner…."

"What?" Cross glared at him.

He wiped his hands on his pants. "This guy makes my damned skin crawl, that's all. It's like… he looks human, but he's this… thing inside."

"He probably is. There have been reports of aliens masquerading in people suits."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Not all of that shit on the internet is just crazy conspiracy theories."

That idea really didn't sit well with Fries. He'd seen things on the internet that had kept him up at night and not in the fun way.


	9. Badlands

The Apache touched down and the two men got out, weapons at the ready. The wind swirled the smoke from the wrecked craft up and away. The pilot moved behind some rocks as the hiss of an airlock followed by the grinding of metal echoed around them. The co-pilot followed. Then all was quiet. He peered around the rock as three people came creeping out, weapons in hand. One was in what looked like a space suit. The other three were just in normal cold weather gear. Harris' voice came over the radio.

"What have you got, Hugin?"

"Four. One apparent alien," he whispered.

"Worst comes to worst, you don't let them take that chopper, you got me? As far as I'm concerned they can all freeze to death out there if that's all we can manage."

"Yes, sir."

His co-pilot rolled his eyes. "Let's just shoot 'em," he muttered. "I joined this group to shoot."

They tried. When the co-pilot came out, gun blazing, he got knocked back so hard by Dani's shockwave pistol that he was flung all the way to the chopper and cracked his helmet on it. The sharp, chuffing hiss of cephalopod expletives sounded loudly from his suit's speakers. "Bastards! You made me crash my baby. Now I'm going to crash YOU."

The pilot froze at seeing the co-pilot drooping his way down the side of the Apache. "Oh, fuck. ET is pissed…." He weighed his options: Do the duty he signed on for and his Mom got the hazard pay if he got gacked. Or… run like a chicken shit. His mom needed the money more than he needed another shot of tequila. What the hell…. "Odin, Pierce is dead. I'm burning Hugin." He shifted around so the rocks would give him some break from the concussive force and then used the device on his wrist to initiate the explosion of the chopper's fuel tank.

The blast caught Jack's team off guard and they were knocked flat. The pilot took the opportunity to spray them with bullets as they were regaining their feet. Lucky for them his nerves were just about gone after seeing what Dani had done and he missed mostly. A ricochet got Keri in her left bicep, making her let out a soft bark of pain. Jack cursed as one grazed his temple, making blood spurt.

"Had to be a head wound…." Jack muttered.

"Oh, now you've hurt my other baby. Now I'm really going to obliterate you! Oh, oh, oh! This is not your day little man!" Dani took off at a run and just slid right around the rocks in the slush looking rather like a space suited ice skater. "Hello." The smile was not a friendly smile. The pilot was just too slow to react. "Goodbye." He squeezed off the shot and the burst knocked him back on his ass, but left a quite satisfactory bit of modern art painted all over the boulders. "Asshole." He got to his feet.

Jules was just staring at Dani as he came back around the rocks. Her gun was out, but down. "Are there more?"

Keri was grinning. "No. Apaches only carry two."

Jack scowled at Dani, giving him a few choice invectives in his own language. "That's enough showboating! We can't afford that kind of grand standing right now, Dani!"

"Right, Jack. You know we're always more successful the more fun we have…."

"Fun?! This isn't about fun! Now move it and help us pull his equipment!"

He almost said something, but snapped his mouth closed with a dark look. "Fine."

Keri's grin faded. What the hell was going on with those two? She held up a scanner. "We've got at least a three to four hour hike back to the base. Great. I'd kind of hoped they wouldn't have any air defenses so we could just blow their whole base before the plane even gets here."

She sighed and shouldered her pack as Jules gathered her medical kit. Dani had grabbed a piece of paneling and fastened it with some conduit to make a crude sled which he and Jack put the extra equipment on.

"Too bad you can't just change into a sled dog…," Jules commented as she moved to help Dani drag it.

"Not in this kind of cold. I'd be out of commission in about twenty minutes. Instant squid-cicle. My home world is balmy warm almost full time. When it's not, most of us sleep."

"Sounds like a nice place." Chatter helped her calm her nerves a little. Being nearly blown up twice so close together had her jittery.

"It was… well, is these days, I guess." The bad thing about Vortex Manipulators was that, after a while, your time sense got a little out of whack, especially if you were a cephalopod. Truth be told, they usually didn't travel space so much; little jaunts here and there, but nothing major. He was something of an anomaly in the grand scheme of things. In fact, as far as he knew, he would probably be the only one of his kind to ever be near Earth, much less set foot on it.

Jack headed off in the direction Keri indicated, stone faced. She cringed a little. Whoever these idiots were, they had opened themselves up to a world of hurt.

Cross wasn't in the best of moods when he finally arrived with his cargo. Harris had called again to say that two of their Apaches were gone and Harkness and three others were likely still out there somewhere. At lease one had an environmental suit which meant they weren't likely to freeze to death. Though Harkness technically couldn't die, he could stay out there frozen like a wooly mammoth all winter. At this point he'd be closing out their operation here anyway, so that was no matter. The alien, though… now that could be sticky. The ship had gone down easily enough, but Harris mentioned energy weapons fired. They didn't have anything that could defend against those.

He'd had Fries take Smith to the medical block to do what needed doing to make him presentable and ensure he made it to his owner alive and relatively well. He hadn't looked too good the last couple of hours. Fries said he thought it was the drug they'd been given to use. If the employer ruined his own merchandise, that technically wasn't his fault. He'd done what he'd been told to do. He was in the control room, pacing and brooding and generally making Harris nervous.

"Anything?"

"No sir. All sweeps coming back…." He stopped as one of the screens he was watching suddenly lit a painfully bright blue and then went to static.

"What sector was that?"

"Thirty-one, sir. And I can't get any of the surveillance in the area to respond."

"Alert bunker four. They should be seeing hostiles any time now." He called down to the medical block. "Fries, where are you on prepping Smith?"

"Trying to get him stable, sir, and clean him up. He reeks."

"Work faster. You have half an hour. Then you're going to have him ready to go out on the Chinook, understood?"

"Yes, sir"

Jack had to laugh. Professional mercenaries in this day and age thought they were so bad ass. They were a joke when you added in just the little alien gadgetry Torchwood had on its own and that Dani had gladly added to from his own stocks. Chris messing with things only added to the arsenal. He had a knack for fiddling. Jack had to admit, Dani had acquired some nice toys in his time as a freebooter. That shockwave pistol was impressive, if a little wide on collateral damage at times. Though, Dani did tend to keep it set higher than needed to subdue these days. And today, well, the collateral damage was welcome as long as his team was safe. They moved in on the bunker, thankful that it had started to snow, making visibility for those inside an issue. Jack and Dani crept forward and Jack peered through one of the slits quickly. He gave Dani a sign of five, moved back a little and nodded. Dani faced the wall and shot it with a hard, tight beam from the pistol. There was a loud sort of "WHUMP!" as the concrete and steel blew inward to a chorus of screams.

Dani smiled nastily. He was really in a foul mood with his woman wounded, his ship a piece of smoking scrap and Jack… well, Jack was not acting like the Jack he knew. Maybe the whole love thing had scrambled his brains or something. He slid to the edge of the hole as gunfire flashed in it.

Jack and Dani alternated with Jules and Keri who were firing from further back in some brush. It wasn't long before the shot coming from inside the bunker stopped. Jack and Dani verified all were dead inside and slipped through the gap, signaling for the other two to approach. Dani made a soft chuff as they got to the rear of the bunker.

"Keypad security? It's almost as useless as those stupid key card things." He pulled a small device from a pocket on the suit and slapped it over the keypad. Symbols scrolled across a map of the keys for a second or two and then showed him the correct sequence in which to press them. "Not even a challenge." He pulled the device off and let them in.

As they were stepping through the door, they heard a radio crackling among the carnage strewn across the floor. It sounded like their control center was trying to verify their status, though it was a little garbled on account of a bullet hole in the casing and all of the blood seeping into the speaker holes.

"We've got minutes before they figure out we're in and send someone," Keri muttered.

Jack paused. "Not even that." He and Dani could already hear people coming at a run. "Cover," he hissed.

There were some crates just inside the corridor, extra ammo and other things they might need quickly in the bunker. They got behind them and the first man to round the corner got peppered with bullets. The second did a nice impression of a Velcro wall as Dani's shockwave slammed him into the wall, making a man-shaped indentation in the cinderblock wall.

"Fuck!" The man who had been behind those two yelped. The shockwave had missed him by inches. "Control, this is Tyler. We have hostiles within the perimeter! Repeat, hostiles within the perimeter! Bunker four is breached and we have energy weapons discharged."

"Oy!" Dani let out a whistle that was earsplitting through the suit's speaker. He gave the team a series of hand signals indicating they should shoot high as he advanced low. "Less meat flapping, more shooting, dimwit!" He was already slipping forward, silent despite the bulk of the suit, when the man peered around and had to duck back quickly as bits of cinder erupted from the corner.

"Screw the stupid shit," barked one of the men. "This is our turf. Rush the fuckers!"

Dani slid backward to give himself a little more room. The men didn't think to look down immediately as they charged around the corner and he blasted four of them dead on. "Oh, you bastards are dumb!"

Keri snorted as she and Jack took town the next three who charged into the fray. "Guess all the smart ones are out on jobs…."

"Can the chatter!" Jack stepped around and they all began to advance over the corpses.

Chris' voice came over their earpieces. He'd been watching through cameras on Dani's suit and a headband Jules wore. "Dani, see that junction box up there at the next intersection?"

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favor, go rip it open and let me see if we can patch my remote control in there? I might be able to get control of the whole place."

"Right." He hung back as the rest of the team crept further into the base. With Chris directing, he managed to wire the little device in. "That good?"

Chris hesitated as he rapidly keyed in commands. "Their computer security is better than their physical security, but I've at least got a layout of the base. I'm sending it to your suit's display."

"Got it. Thanks, Chris." He studied it for a second and then called out to the others as he caught up. "Uh, I'd assume they've got Evan either in medical or brig. Either way, take a right, Jack."

As they made their way along, they took out those unlucky enough to cross their paths. At one four-way intersection, they were stopped temporarily. Once of the defenders managed to hit Dani almost dead center in his chest with a shot from an assault rifle and he went sprawling backward. Foul brownish fluid arced up in a fine spray as he let a string of chuff-click cephalopod curses.

"Dani!" Keri managed to snag him and pull him behind some stacked crates.

He grunted in frustration. "Great…stinking suit goo everywhere." He saw how pale Keri's face was. "No, no. Relax. It's not even a flesh wound. Just a hellish bruise where they ruptured the suit's liquid temperature controls."

He half considered just oozing out of the damned thing. The base interior was chilly, but not freezing. But, no, the suit materials were about as good as the Kevlar the others wore, lighter and covered more of him. He reached up and shut down the pump that was making the liquid squirt. He tried to stand and slipped in the mess. Keri steadied him as Jack and Jules did their best to try and deal with fire from three directions.

Jules was panting heavily and looking a little green. "Chris? Is there anything you can do," she whispered.

"Jack, Keri, see if you can back the men in the right hand corridor past that fire door. I've got a line to their fire suppression systems. I should be able to trap them between the locks and knock them out with a heavy concentration of Argonite. It may only work the once, though."

Keri grinned. "You're vicious for a tech head…." She fired a few shots before her clip was empty and she had to reload. She was happy to see Jules filled the gap. She knew she hated having to fire her weapon and today she was getting a real workout, poor kid.

Jack was obviously getting more agitated as they went along. He'd spied a long crate nearby and a nasty smile touched his lips. He knew what a box that held an RPG looked like. He slid over to pry the thing open and assembled the weapon with deft hands. He then stepped into view with it, causing a couple of the mercenaries to curse and try to find cover. They needed to go left, so he shot it down the corridor directly ahead. The explosion set off alarms and the fire suppression systems on both the right and forward corridors kicked in, the big metal doors sliding in place.

"Well, that saves me a step. Thanks, Jack."

"Move!" He tossed the spent launcher aside and unslung the semi-automatic rifle from his back.

Cross slammed a fist into a console with a feral sound. He was losing far too much in men and equipment. If it hadn't been for the alien and his toys, this wouldn't have been an issue. "This is turning into a total cluster fuck!" He snapped on his earpiece as he opened the weapons locker at the back of the room and took up an M4 Carbine clicked off the safety. "This is Cross, all personnel initiate Plan Delta. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Load it up and move it out!" He hated to have to call a retreat, but he didn't see the wisdom in taking more losses than necessary. They could reconvene out in Arizona at the beta location.

Harris gathered up their packs of data chips and stuffed them into a pack with several clips of ammo, some flash-bang and frag grenades and a pair of loaded Tec-9s. He also took an M4 and nodded to Cross. "Chinook?"

He nodded. "Fries, we're headed for the Chinook. Move your ass. Clean or not, stable or not, Smith is shipping out."

"Understood, sir."

Jack and his team were cutting an exceptionally bloody path through the men who were scrambling to try and obey the order for retreat. Well, three of them were, anyway.

"Jack! They're leaving! Why are we still shooting?!" Jules refused to shoot people in the back when they weren't even pointing a weapon at her. It went against every fiber of her being.

Jack shot her what could only be described as a filthy look. "Maybe you should just sit and cry then." He slammed a fresh clip into his gun and stalked off in the direction Dani had indicated they should be going.

He might as well have just walked over and slapped her as hard as he could. She opened her mouth to say something, but Keri put a hand on her arm and shook her head. Jules' mouth snapped shut and she kicked at a nearby crate in rage. Dani shot a disconcerted look over his shoulder at Keri as Jack stalked past him. He was definitely far off on the edge of the map where it said 'Here there be monsters" now.

In the medical unit, Evan could hear the sounds of chaos dimly. Inside of him, the drowning alligator which was now his other half was tearing him apart in its struggles. His body arched and twisted in the restraints. Somehow he managed to make a keening, inhuman sound of pain as his heels beat out a tattoo of anguish on the gurney.

The sound echoed out to Jack who wasn't far away now. "Evan!" He panted it in a whisper. "I'm coming….." He took off at a run, leaving the others no choice but to follow.

Fries was frantically grabbing bags of the drug and packing crates. If he was going to get the young man delivered, he would need to be able to keep him knocked out. Handling the stuff really creeped him out. It was faintly luminous green and reminded him of the kind of thing you'd see in an old horror movie. He hung a backup bag on the gurney's rack and then shoved the crates onto the shelf under the wheeled bed. He started wheeling the gurney toward the hall. He heard someone running toward the medical block, more than one person by the sound of it.

"Shit…. Please let it be Cross…," he muttered. But the fact that they stopped instead of crossing the door told him it wasn't.

Dani leaned across Jack, shifting one eye onto a long stalk and lowering it to a level where most people wouldn't be looking for someone peeking. Jules tried not to shudder. Under different circumstances, Dani would have enjoyed being pressed against Jack, breathing in the scent of his pheromones. But as it was, it was only mildly distracting and he hardly had to steel himself to keep his body from remembering things best left forgotten. Besides, right now, Jack was a little scary. It kind of spoiled the mood.

"Just one in sight," he whispered. "He's got Evan. About 20 feet from the door and trying to decide what to do."

"I've got Smith," Fries called. "I'll kill him." He hovered with a scalpel at Evan's throat.

Jack slipped past Dani and stood in the doorway, face hard. "Really." He raised his gun. "Are you faster than a bullet?" Fries looked stunned as the bullet passed into his right eye and then blew out the back of his skull. Jack moved forward, wincing as he touched Evan's face. "We're here, Evan."

Keri was keeping watch at the door, just in case someone decided to show up to assist with moving their prisoner.

Jules rushed to the gurney, scanning Evan. She gasped when she touched him. A faint burst of pain passed to her through her skin. "Oh, Evan…. Hold on. I'll get it off you. This… stuff is making him hurt." She made a disgusted face and quickly unhooked the intravenous feed and covered the hole. "We need to take this stuff. It's coming up as an unknown compound, but part of it is organic and mirrors Evan's DNA. It's keyed specifically to him."

"Dani, grab a few bags and destroy the rest. I want to know what the hell they're playing at." Evan began to struggle. "Easy… easy."

"Jack…." His eyes fluttered open, looking incredibly wrong. They were an oily looking swirl of black streaks and his normal eyes. He was still in pain and arched as his body began trying to push the drugs out. He was so overrun with the chemicals that his body fought the best way it knew how: pushing the garbage out through his pores. The faintly glowing goo began to coat him. He barely managed to turn away from Jack as he retched and Jules dodged the vomit as it splattered.

"Jack, we need to get him back to The Hub. I can't even fully assess the damage with the field equipment. He's dehydrated and they didn't bother giving him a glucose feed or anything. His body has been burning its own resources for hours trying to keep him alive."

He scooped Evan up and headed for the door with Jules still scanning. Keri fell into step with them. Dani shoved several bags of the stuff into a satchel. He turned his shockwave pistol on the cases and the cooler cabinets of bags. The stuff sprayed out over the surrounding floor and counters. He spied several little data chip cases which were on a console and grabbed them. These people were goons. They didn't have the kind of equipment used to make things like that smelly goop they'd been using to subdue the boy. No, he knew hired muscle when he saw them. But maybe they had information regarding who had hired them. Just to add insult to injury, he blithely used his pistol to batter all of their medical equipment into useless junk.

"Love tearing things up, I do."

He grinned a little as he moved to follow Jack and Jules. It was small compensation for having to replace the stupid suit and repair Tava. He just wished he could be here to see it when the rest of them came back. It was quite obvious that they weren't all home by the size of the place and amount of equipment. It had to freak a body out to come home to corpses and a trashed out place. He caught up with Jack and Jules as they were heading back up.

"We need to figure out how to get him back to Cardiff fast…." Jules made him pause long enough for her to pump glucose into Evan's arm.

"Steal one of their Hummers to get us back to the ship," puffed Dani. "I should be able to get enough juice to transport from here to The Hub for two only. The rest of us'll have to tough it out until I can get Tava to a point she can limp home. Hope you have your psychic paper, Jack… just in case we get any government flack. Pretty sure radar picked us up on the crash."

"Confirmed on that, Dani. Ellsworth Air Force Base is scrambling to investigate." Chris' voice was edged in tension. He was fuming over the way Jack had talked to Jules.

"Shit." Keri took off at top speed back to the bay of vehicles they'd come through earlier. "Hope they're not all gone…."

They were incredibly lucky. There was one Humvee left that wasn't shot all to hell. They got aboard as quickly as they could. Somewhere, far off, they could hear the roaring whine of a large helicopter engine firing up. Keri had driven one of these monsters before, so she took the wheel, flooring the gas pedal. The sounds Evan was making were making her skin crawl. Right now, he didn't sound human at all except when he managed to say Jack's name through clenched teeth.

At the back of the compound, the Chinook was almost ready to take off. Cross cursed under his breath. Where was Fries with that damned boy? Harris saw two of the men headed their way. "Sir! There's Jameson and Travis"

"Any sign of Fries?" Cross yelled as he helped Jameson aboard.

"Negative, sir. We didn't see him"

Travis handed Harris his computer case and hopped up. "Harkness was headed toward the medical block, Cross. Right there like he had a map. Considering the bloodbath I saw in his wake, I think you can write Fries and the boy off as a loss."

With a roar of anger, Cross slammed his fist into the metal shell of the chopper. The pilot got them in the air at a signal from Harris. He knew the military would be getting in the thick of it all too soon. They needed to be gone.

Thanks to Keri's skill with the Hummer they made it to the ship quickly and just a little jarred by the landscape. Jack and Dani got Evan into Tava . Jules was right there with them.

"Jack," she said. "I'm sorry, but I have to go with him. Stephen will need my hands." He almost argued with her, then clamped his jaw shut and nodded.

Dani grabbed his arm as he rushed past with a toolkit in his other hand. "You can help me reroute power, Jack."

Keri was in the cockpit fighting to get Tava's scanners back online so they'd have eyes on the outside without risking anyone being in the open. Working together, the work went faster and Dani was soon setting the coordinates to beam Jules and Evan back. Evan was seizing again, but more weakly. Jack scooped him into his arms gently, kissing his temple with a worried look etched on his face. He looked at Jules.

"Good luck."

"He'll be okay, Jack. You know we'll do everything we can."

"Step back, Jack. You put this on and hold him tight now, Jules." Dani handed her his control band. He went back to the cockpit to activate the transport system. He made a face at the almost coughing sound it made as it initiated. "Oh, don't you dare," he muttered under his breath. "He'd kill me…."

"Dani…." Jack's voice had a dangerous edge.

"Don't twist your knickers, man. It's going!"

"They made it." Chris' voice sounded in Jack's ear. "On the plus side, you're probably going to have a while before they can get any people on the ground to harass you. With those two Apaches down they're going to want a full scale investigation. But Ellsworth is a bomber installation. They're really not set up for that. The nearest full army base is Wisconsin and that'll take some time to rouse. And they'll want Homeland Security, too. They'll want to salvage."

"All the same, I'm working my appendages off to get us out of here before they show…." No way was he letting the U.S. government get its hands on his baby. Not now, not ever.

The suit was useless now for keeping him warm and he shucked out of it. He found spare regular winter gear they'd brought and put it on. It would have to do for the moment. It just meant Jack would be doing any outside work. He was pleasantly surprised when both Keri and Jack responded to his barked orders without a single protest. Tava still had a fair crack in her hull that they could only half-ass patch. The fun part was having to monkey around with artificial gravity well generation to get her flipped over. Terrestrial liftoff could not be achieved with her sitting upside down, after all. Once she rested somewhat shakily right side up thanks to bent landing stanchions, Dani and Jack completed what they could to make her okay for low-atmo transit.

Yeah, thought Dani, we'll be lucky if we aren't blown to smithereens. At the very least, I just know both governments are going to be coming unglued when they figure out what's been going on out here. He was glad he wasn't the one who got to deal with all the administrative nightmares while Jack babysat his lover in med bay. Poor Gwen.


	10. What Doesn't Kill You

_**Author's note: Apologies for the delay in getting this section up. It just wasn't coming easily. I'm still not entirely sure I'm happy with it. But, it is what it is and every moment can't be action packed or our heroes would die off too quickly, neh? :-D**_

In actuality, it was mostly Chris who managed to get them past all the bureaucratic mess. It was amazing how reports going missing and servers crashing stymied investigations in the modern world. Gwen did handle the smoothing of some of the ruffled feathers but it was mostly minor. Between the two of them, they'd managed to keep both the RAF and UNIT from seizing Tava, Jack and Dani the moment they'd gotten home.

It took two days for Stephen and Jules to rid Evan of all traces of the drug that had ravaged him. The samples Dani had carried proved to be based upon Evan's own genetic structure as Jules' initial scans in the field had shown. It seemed to indicate that whoever it was behind the abduction, they'd had access to tissue samples at some point. Stephen set Chris to searching out any record of legitimate samples being taken at any point in the child's life. It might give them leads as to who had provided the tissue at least. By the end of the second day, Evan was perched on the sofa in Jack's office, scowling.

"Jack, what if they try again?" He chewed his lower lip nervously.

"Then we'll deal with it."

He sighed. "Will I be putting the artists I rent the studio spaces to in danger if I go back to the loft?"

"I honestly don't know, Evan. It's possible."

"Obviously these people had a way to track me…." He was beginning to wonder if this was why they'd been forced to move him so much as a child.

Jack nodded. "Chris looked over the data chips Dani got a hold of. There were notations that they were tracking you by a specific energy signature. Looking at the dated notes, whatever you were doing in the park that one night and before that down in the sewers… that's what they were tracking. After that, they had eyes on us."

The chiming, thought Evan. The star's song…. "So if I don't use the abilities, they shouldn't be able to track me?"

"That's the assumption."

Evan pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. Great. At least he still had his telepathy. He contemplated the situation. If they'd been visually tracking then they probably did know where they lived. They might even know where the entrances to The Hub were. Alex had assured them that, aside from a certain someone with a TARDIS, The Hub wasn't at risk for uninvited guests. The star inside had said that "adjustments were being made" to ensure they would not be able to subdue them so easily with the substance they'd used. His brow furrowed more deeply. He had to stop thinking of his other self as "it" or "the star" as if it had no identity or intelligence. It was very intelligent in its own ways. It just didn't quite comprehend all of the maddening things humans did. It was not, after all, human. HE, he corrected himself. HE is not human.

Jack had moved from his seat to sit beside Evan. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he startled when Jack put an arm around him. "Relax. I'm taking steps to make sure we're all safe. It's just going to take some time. In the mean time, we'll just have to be more vigilant so they don't get the drop on us again." He kissed his temple.

Evan made a face that was a blend of exasperation and disgust. "I was worse than useless. No weapon on me. I couldn't get to yours. They put me down like a rabid dog."

"Evan, you're not primarily a fighter."

"Maybe I need to learn those kinds of skills then. And start carrying a weapon full time like you do."

It troubled Jack to see this kind of change in his sweet, gentle Evan. Up until now, Evan had done a careful dance to keep his work with Torchwood a thing apart from his life outside The Hub. "If it will make you feel safer, I'll okay the order for a full time carry permit and you can test for it."

"It will. At least then I have that option available in case they find some other way to disconnect me from my abilities. I couldn't even use my telepathy other than through direct skin contact. That's never happened before."

Jack stood, stroking Evan's hair gently. "Come on. Let's go home. I had Alex do an upgrade on the security systems at the loft so it's at least a little safer. You need to be in your own bed tonight so you can rest properly."

Evan nodded. "Let's get dinner first, please? For all that I feel better, I think I'm not up to cooking tonight."

"You can have whatever you want." Jack helped him to his feet and put an arm around him as they headed out.

Alex was on night watch and he nodded to them as they left. Once they were outside, he locked The Hub down for the night.

Stephen insisted that Evan should take at least one more day off because he still looked ragged, so he had gone back to the loft the next morning to try and occupy himself. He tried to paint, but everything kept coming out dark and ominous, representations of pain and isolation and entirely useless for the themed show material he had been working on. At last he gave up and just cleaned the loft to a state of utter spotlessness to save his sanity from crushing boredom and his canvases from work he couldn't currently use. He'd get the dark stuff out eventually. He just didn't want to do it now. Under normal circumstances, he would have been out walking. He didn't think it would be safe to run the streets alone right now. Keri had told him that not everyone in that base had been killed and that they were bigger than the few handfuls of men they'd encountered. They'd heard a chopper lifting off and several had fled over land as well. They could still be out there.

He was taking a shower when it occurred to him that maybe he needed to just move on. He had been wandering a while before coming here. He had moved around as a child. Maybe it just wasn't safe for him to be in one place for so long. And then there was the fact that there were news stories and things about him now, too. He blew out a huff of breath. I've worked so hard for this, he thought. I have a home. I have Jack. I have Torchwood. I have my art. I don't want to leave. He rested his forehead against the glass of the shower stall. This is mine and, dammit, it's worth fighting for, isn't it? But, what about the others? Would they think he was worth defending? Surely Jack would or he wouldn't have risked so much to get him back. But Dani? Jules? Keri? Chris? Any of them? Would they feel it was worth the continual risk of being shot up… or worse… on top of the risks their jobs posed every day? He really didn't know. Even if they did think he was worth it, he wasn't so sure he would want them sacrificing themselves for him. The world needed them far more than it needed him.

_You also have your place, little monkey child._

He let out a soft bark of a laugh. _You… you're what's needed. It's you that's special, not me._

_We are one being and so we are both special._

_ You make my head ache. You say WE…._

_Only because we are fragmented for now. It will not always be so._

_Well, until then, star stuff, what should we call you?_

_Our songs are our identities._

_Well, that would be difficult for people to say, don't you think? And we can't just call you 'hey you'._

_Perhaps. So you say we need a name?_

He finished washing up and stepped out to dry himself. _Yes. It would be helpful._

_Then choose one which you think Humans will find easy to speak._

He contemplated while he got dressed. It seemed silly to name him Bob or Mike or any other ordinary name. No, he wanted something more… significant. _What about, Rigel? It's a name humans have given to the brightest star in the constellation Orion._

_Will this other star mind that you steal its name to give to me?_

_Well, I doubt it will ever find out. Besides, it's only being borrowed until we finally figure out how to stop being a dual being in a singular form._

_Rigel. It is acceptable. Can we watch television? It is useful for cultural study._

Evan had to laugh at that. He hadn't been aware that Rigel had been watching television through his eyes. Sneaky devil…. He had to wonder what else he had been studying.

_Much. I study much. To merge with you, I must understand you. Though, I do not fully comprehend some of your emotions because they tie into physical aspects which are alien to me. Those would require I be fully linked to your physical aspect in order to gather full knowledge._ He'd only ever been a star before things came together to place him in this body where he was half star and half human soul, so some things were nothing short of a mystery.

_You can ask me questions, you know. I may not always have a good answer, but I'll try. To be honest sometimes I don't understand why I feel certain things, either._

For instance, being drawn to Jack immediately as he had been was definitely out of character. He was normally so cautious and slow when it came to that. He supposed it had to do with having been different his whole life. He didn't like to open up too much because it usually led to him being ostracized or tormented. Wisconsin had definitely not been the most accepting place to realize one was homosexual. But, at least Kaye and David hadn't run screaming when they realized it. In fact, they had been very supportive and said that all they wanted was for him to be happy. He wished he could call Kaye right now, but he was afraid it might make her a target. Maybe talking to her would help him figure out if he should stay or run.

Running… no. That would mean leaving Jack. He felt like he'd rather carve his own spleen out with a spoon. That was an entirely new and strange sensation, too. Dani had warned him that being around Jack could be like that… like being in the pull of a black hole and unable to get free if you had to. The palpable grief that had emanated from the cephalopod in that moment had almost made Evan cry. He knew that Jack had cared about Dani once. He could sense from Dani that he had perhaps felt more for Jack than that, truly loved him if he guessed correctly. But that Jack wasn't the same Jack Evan loved. No, not by a long shot. That Jack had been much more blithe and carefree because he hadn't seen nearly as much death yet. That Jack had feared getting too close to people. He hadn't wanted to be tied down with obligation. The difference now was that Jack had come to realize that, for once, someone who loved him couldn't be so easily ripped away by death. For all that Dani could time hop and would live long, he would still die. The Doctor was long-lived and Jack did love him in his way, but he belonged to Rose alone when you got right down to it. So now Jack had Evan and Evan had him and it seemed to be the way things ought to be. No, running would never be an option anymore. They would just have to figure out how to defend against his enemies.

He decided to give in to Rigel's request for television, but put it on actual educational programming rather than the rubbish that populated most of the daytime television schedule. He turned on the small TV in the kitchen while he rummaged for a snack and tried to decide what to cook for dinner. So far, his Torchwood earpiece had been quiet, which meant that Jack would more than likely be home for a more normal dinner time unless something untoward happened. Rigel rode very close to the surface, listening to the television while Evan pulled out what he needed and went about his mundane tasks. On occasion, he would ask Evan to clarify something he heard. Evan sometimes had to pause, go get his tablet and pull up something from the Internet to further explain. He had to be careful, though. Rigel would sometimes then fire off another dozen questions and go off on such tangents that they could easily spend all day looking things up. So Evan decided it would be best to have Rigel note what he wished to research further and then set up specific times for educational research. Otherwise, he'd never get a thing done.

So it was that he and Rigel were perched on a stool in the kitchen, munching on carrots and ranch dressing while watching the National Geographic channel when Jack came home. He came around and chuckled as he kissed Evan.

"So bored you're watching that?"

"Not exactly. I… had a talk with my other other half. He wants more time to learn things. So I put it on for him"

"I see." The thought seemed to make Jack a little uneasy. That black-eyed thing inside Evan still unnerved him. He knew that kind of unease was why The Doctor had left him behind. He wasn't going to do the same to Evan.

"He has a name now."

"Oh?"

Evan nodded. "Rigel. He's not that star, obviously. It's still there. I just thought it would be a nice name to use."

"It's a good name." He hugged him and sniffed the air. "And what's for dinner that smells so good?"

"Joint of lamb, purple potatoes and cauliflower bake." He glanced at the timer. "Should be out in twenty minutes or so."

"Enough time for you and I on the sofa, then." He grinned and scooped him from the stool, eliciting a laugh. "Sorry, Rigel, education time is over. He's mine right now."

It took a bit of convincing to make Rigel sleep again so that he and Jack could have their private time for the evening. Deep down Evan knew that, eventually, Jack would have to get more comfortable with Rigel because they would, essentially, be the same being some day. He also knew that it wasn't going to happen right away in either case.

When he went back to The Hub to be on duty again, he asked Alex to begin teaching him martial arts when he wasn't tied up doing other things.

Keri was leaning on the rail in the pit, sipping her coffee. "He might be better off with me teaching him since I'm closer to his build."

"When he can put me on the mat, you can teach him the finesse." Alex crossed his meaty arms over his chest.

She patted Evan's shoulder. "Guess you better eat your Wheaties, then."

"Yeah…." Looking at the very large man, he had no idea how he'd manage to put him on the mat aside from possibly punching him in the crotch. Considering the pain tolerance he'd seen Alex exhibit in the field, even that might not take him down.

"You learn things fairly quickly. I think you'll do well. "There was just the slightest upturn to Alex's lips that Evan took to be his version of an encouraging smile. "If you want to get your first lessons in this evening, we should be able to manage it barring any calls to the field."

Evan nodded. "That sounds like a plan."

He nodded in kind and went back to his corner of The Hub to work on something which, apparently, was a bit hush-hush since he closed his door. He rarely did that unless he was handling extremely sensitive information. Dani came stomping up from the lower levels with a grim look on his face. He'd been assessing Tava's systems over the last few days and looking none too happy about it.

"So," Keri said, "are you going to be able to get her back up to speed?"

"Maybe, if Jack can help me get in touch with some people for supplies." He didn't look pleased to have to go shut himself into Jack's office to talk about it, either.

Chris peered at him over his monitor. "If you need extra hands, see if Jack will let me or Jules help you. We're both pretty good with electronics and things."

"I'll ask." He knew it wouldn't happen right now. Jack wanted them trying to track down the people who had kidnapped Evan. He seemed to have them on that any time they didn't have more pressing matters to deal with. He tapped the door to Jack's office and stepped in when he was told to. "Well, guess it's a good thing you keep accounts in every time stream you cross. You're going to need them."

"That much damage, huh?" Dani handed him the scanner, the screen of which was showing the systems checks in slow progression. Jack made a face. "Ouch. We're going to have a hard time trying to get some of the materials you need…."

"I know. But it's not like we're in any great rush. I don't exactly plan to go planet jumping anytime soon."

Jack studied him quietly for a moment. "I'm glad."

Dani returned his gaze rather blandly. When Jack had moved from being with him to being with John, Dani hadn't made a fuss. He'd simply transferred to a different unit so they couldn't be sent out together anymore. He'd also changed it so Jack couldn't open the door to his quarters anymore. He never told Jack that he'd seen him going off with John that first time. Nor had he told him how it had gutted him emotionally. He'd kept his dealings with Jack light and friendly on the rare occasions their paths crossed. This time hadn't been chance. He'd purposely taken this run because he'd heard Jack was on Earth and in the same general vicinity his target was lurking in. He'd half hoped to find him between serious lovers, but his luck was never that good.

"So… how's Evan been?"

Jack sighed. "Decent considering what he's been though."

"Good." He shifted uncomfortably. "Just let me know if you can get me what I need. I'll fix what I can in the mean time." He stood and headed for the door.

"Dani… thank you. I know Tava means a lot to you. I'll do everything I can to see she's fully functional again. "

"I know you will." If only he gave that much care to me being fully functional, he thought. Or anyone else he's gone through…. He headed out before Jack could try to keep him longer.

A faint scowl touched Jack's features. He had noticed the furtive glances, the frowns and, sometimes, the sorrow in Dani's eyes when he thought no one was looking. He'd thought their paths had just diverged. Dani had still been his usual manic self, always joking and off on a tear. They'd never been serious. At least, he'd not been all that serious at the time. He'd cared about him, yes. Just not in that one true love kind of way. Maybe he'd been wrong. At that point in his life he hadn't given a lot of thought about serious relationships. It was all about fun then. He absently ran a thumb over his lips as he wondered if, somewhere along the line he owed Dani an apology. He'd never acted angry or upset over their parting of ways. He'd let Jack hug him when they ran across each other again. But it seemed like the longer he was around, the more tense he became. He'd thought being with Keri would improve the mood, but it seemed to make some aspects of it worse. He was pulled from his thoughts by another tap on his door.

"Come in."

Evan stepped in. "We just got communication from a Judoon transport. They'll be passing close enough to take some Weevils off our hands if you want to set it up."

"Not my favorite way to clear the cell block, but effective." He ran a hand through his hair.

Rigel's interest was piqued. _Weevils are considered vermin, yes?_

_Yes, well, sort of. Why?_

_We need to practice using our rifts on living beings safely. There are better uses for a rift than a hole to push enemies through to be rid of them. They would make good trial subjects._

"Um, no!" Evan looked almost ill.

Jack looked concerned. "Evan?"

"Nothing… Rigel was saying we could use Weevils as test subjects to see if we could make the rifts safe for gating living beings."

Jack made a face. "Tempting, but no. I can't okay the use of even mildly sentient beings for experimental purposes. Besides, they're sensitive to that kind of thing."

The voice that issued forth from Evan's mouth was not his own. It was the strange almost chiming lilt of Rigel. "Judoon kill them, do they not? The archives say Torchwood used to shoot them."

"The ones who've killed humans…."

"Then what harm is there in using them as test subjects?"

_It's an ethics, thing, Rigel. _Evan was a little peeved that he had just shoved forward and taken over.

Evan's head cocked to the side slightly, a posture that happened often when Rigel was riding close and considering information. "Your objection is ethical in nature?"

Jack sighed. Trying to explain things to Rigel, Evan had said, could be daunting. He was beginning to see why. Apparently Rigel had a knack for stripping away fluff and asking difficult questions. "Yes, it is."

"Judoon will execute for certain those who murder. Those who murder may live if we use them to test our gating capabilities."

Jack rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Okay. I need Evan back. We have work to do. We'll discuss this later. Right now it's a moot point since you can't safely do… whatever it is you do right now."

"But it may be possible to…."

_Not now, Rigel. We have set times for research and study and questions. Remember? Now is not the time. Now is the time for Jack and I to work. _Evan could see Jack beginning to tense in his chair. _Slip down and go think about the points you wish to discuss when it's time for it._

The sensation of Rigel letting him take control again was very much like a petulant child stomping off to their room to sulk. For all of his power, Rigel was young and could definitely be very much like a child, though more like a teenager in his mannerisms.

When Jack saw that Evan's eyes were no longer star-strewn black, Jack leaned back in his chair with a huff. "You really need to learn to control that. Having him take over whenever he wants could prove dangerous."

"I know." He sighed heavily. "So…Judoon. Shall I have them send us a crate of retaining crystals to the retrieval point so we can offload some Weevils?"

"Yes." He hesitated a moment, obviously considering something. "Don't give them any of the known human killers."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Okay…. Jack, um, honestly the Judoon energy weapons are probably kinder than what might happen to them if Rigel and I can't gate living things safely."

"Think so?"

"Rigel says the rifts feed into the void. He says that until we can control flow of matter across them that you shouldn't be close to them when they open. The energies in you might cause you to be pulled in accidentally. He says the only reason we don't get pulled in is probably because his energy is bonded fully to the human energy naturally. But what you are…."

"I'm unnatural."

Evan rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously, a little flustered. "Yeah. Sorry…. But I can't imagine getting stuck in the void alive would be pleasant."

Jack's jaw twitched a little. He'd considered that jumping through a rift into the void might actually be a way to end his own suffering more than once. Maybe it was a good thing he'd never gotten the chance to try it. "It's a moot point for now anyway. You're not going to be experimenting with your abilities until we have a safe place for you to do it and you can do it without being tracked through it. Am I clear on that?"

Evan sighed. "Yes. But then why are you keeping the Weevils who have killed humans?"

"Maybe we'll have a use for them later," he said enigmatically.

"Okay. I'll have Chris send the message to the transport." He stepped around Jack's desk and cupped his cheek as he leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. "Now, no more scowling."

Jack scoffed. "Oh that's not likely to happen in this line of work…."

"Try. Or I'll come in once an hour and tickle you to make you laugh."

He gave a full fledged laugh. "We'd never get anything done."

"But I already have. I made you laugh." Evan winked at him as he left the office.

Jack shook his head ruefully. What in all the worlds had he gotten himself into? He had to admit; with Evan around he didn't brood nearly as much as he had before. Some part of him thought it was a bad thing, that maybe he wasn't taking things seriously enough. Put he also acknowledged that there were times when that respite from brooding and worrying over a problem allowed him to step back and find a better way to deal with a situation. Sometimes it meant a safer and more expedient solution. Those kinds of solutions meant people weren't at risk of death so much. That alone was worth more than anything to Jack. Leading up to Ianto's death he'd heard often enough that he got people killed. The notion just slapped him with more force when Ianto died. Maybe that was precisely why Evan had been drawn to him. He needed a lover who wasn't so fragile if he wanted to keep him. And he did want to keep him. Evan made him feel things he'd long thought were beyond his ability to feel anymore after all his centuries of wandering, especially after losing Ianto. He was amazed at his willingness to try again so soon. But Evan, at least when Rigel wasn't skin riding, put him at ease and made him happy. It wasn't quite the same as he'd felt with Ianto; it was similar in flavor but more intense perhaps, more varied.

Psychoanalyzing yourself is a stupid idea, Jack, he thought. He chuckled softly and pulled up the communications feeds to see if there was anything they needed their noses in that the government might be hiding.

Once Evan had done everything he needed to do, he tapped on Alex's door. "Okay, I think I'm ready to get my ass beat."

Alex gave him a stern look. "If you go in with an attitude like that, you'll never achieve any goal I set for you."

A rather diffident look crossed his face and was then forced off. "Sorry. I've just never done this kind of thing before."

"Once upon a time I hadn't, either. Now I'm a sensei and teach others. Let's go get suited up." He clapped him gently on the shoulder and gestured for him to precede him down into the lower levels.

A short time later, Alex had him on the mats, mirroring his moves as he slowly showed him blocking techniques. Evan had thought he'd just start wailing on him to toughen him up, so it was something of a surprise to be doing this instead.

"You need to teach your body the flow of the movements and how they link together." Alex's voice was an odd mix of soothing and commanding that made the instructions easy to follow and impossible to ignore. "If you build the muscle memory, you don't have to consciously think about your next move so much. It gives you an edge over your opponent if you move reflexively. It reduces minute tells which can give them foresight into what you're about to do."

Evan nodded slightly as he moved. It reminded him a little of the Tai Chi movements he'd seen people doing in one of the parks in San Francisco when he'd been there. It had fascinated him and he'd done several sketches that day. He blushed as Alex had to tell him to focus on what he was doing so he could learn. When he felt he had the moves memorized enough, they began what was essentially a slow dance. Alex would slow down a strike or kick and Evan was expected to respond with the appropriate block. Every time he got it right, Alex sped the routine up a little. When he could repeat the actions fairly quickly, Alex began delivering them in orders other than the one he'd taught them in. That proved to be more challenging and Evan ended up on the mats repeatedly. When he started to show signs of fatigue, Alex nodded.

"I think that's enough for today." He bowed to him. "When you don't have to be sitting, you can practice the moves. The more you repeat them, the better you'll be."

He had to admit, Evan had a grace to him that would likely be close to stunning if he could master the martial arts. In time, maybe he'd fly like Bruce Lee. Or not. Evan was also a little flighty at times from what he could tell. Then again, for all the brilliance in their fields, everyone here had some sort of quirk to them. Some days it seemed that only he and Stephen were sane and stable. Though, if you asked Keri or Jules, they would say Alex was as quirky as a space mad alien simply because he was so… bland for a security man. That made him chuckle softly to himself as he headed into the little locker room to get a shower. Evan had gone up to use Jack's facilities, preferring the privacy.

Evan stepped through the open door to Jack's section of The Hub, wincing a little after the climb up from the lower levels. He was a little sore after tumbling to the floor so much despite the mats. He was thankful he wouldn't stay battered long. Little things like bruises and sore muscles didn't last long on him.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Sore, huh?"

He rubbed his right hip gently. He'd fallen fairly hard on it trying to block one of Alex's kicks. "A little. Nothing that'll keep me from romping after dinner." He gave him a lop-sided grin and leaned in to kiss him as he passed.

"Good."

Jack grinned wolfishly, watching the view as he made his way into the small areas they'd used for quarters before moving to the loft. Now they were just a convenient place to clean up and rest when they were pulling long shifts in The Hub. Jack had designed this new place with an eye toward being able to hole up for long periods if need be. It went deeper than the old Hub had. It also had more secure ways in and out so it was possible to avoid blasts in the upper levels by going down to the docking bay, for example, and still have a way out after. And some areas were designed to withstand most explosives. Being blown up… definitely not his favorite way to die… if he had one. He leaned back and smiled, hearing Evan humming to himself in the shower. He wondered how he was so energetic all the time. The super powers of youth, he supposed.

He snorted at himself. Well, he had been finding more grey hairs, hadn't he? But at least the process was slow. He sometimes wondered if it sped up the more he died. He'd not been able to find any real way to tell other than possibly scanning himself all the time and comparing the readings. It would have been more effective if he'd been doing it the whole time since Rose had resurrected him, though. He wondered sometimes if she was different after all of that, too. As far as he knew, she'd never actually been killed after that; not for lack of trying, of course. For all he knew, holding that Time Vortex inside her might have made her "wrong", too. And maybe that had been the real reason The Doctor had left her with that part-human Doctor. Who knew why The Doctor did so many of the things he did? His annoying tendency toward being mysterious made getting him to tell you things problematic to say the least. Evan roused him from his musings by stepping out in clean clothes. He was fluffing his damp curls with a towel and it was just a little distracting. Cute, but not like a puppy, and enticing.

"Thinking about Rose and The Doctor, hmm?"

"Peeking is rude." Jack half smirked.

Evan tweaked his nose. "I didn't have to peek. The look on your face told me."

"Oh. It's that obvious?" He looked mildly chagrined.

"Sometimes. When you think no one is looking." He gave Jack a gentle and understanding smile. "I wish I could have met her. From what I've seen in your memories, she's a good person."

"She is. I just hope she's okay wherever she is." The Doctor had told him once that he'd given his other self the means to grow a TARDIS before stranding them in Pete's World. He wondered if they had and were zooming about their own reality together.

"Well, she is with that other Doctor. If he's really like him, you know she's safe. He loves her and that one is mortal so he may not be as prone to taking risks." He sat in one of the chairs in front of Jack's desk. "I've wondered, though. How come she's not like you? She had the TARDIS' energy inside her, too."

Jack blinked in surprise since he'd just been wondering the same thing. "Actually, I don't know that she's not. And we have no way of finding out either. But The Doctor said the energy was killing her. That's why he took it from her."

"But not you. It didn't hurt you." He chewed at his lower lip a little as he thought. Once again, he felt Rigel stirring. _No taking over…._

_Very well…._He sounded only mildly perturbed. _Your Jack is not the same sort of Human as people from this general time. He is… evolved, more advanced. One would assume the energy would not be the same in his body as in hers. Perhaps even gender body chemistry could be a factor. Environment influences the ways in which matter and energy behave._

"Evan?" Jack had leaned forward to touch his shoulder.

He hadn't realized he'd become so engrossed in what Rigel was telling him that he'd frozen and was staring into space. "Sorry. Rigel was saying it might have been different for you since you're 51st century human and Rose isn't."

"Ah." He noted Evan's irises were their normal warm brown, but his pupils were wide and showed faintly shot with stars, glimmering strangely. "You're in control?"

"Yes. He's just right below the surface is all."

"Tell him to go back down."

_I hear him. I hear what you hear._

"He hears what I hear." And that was a lot, actually. Growing up he'd realized that his senses were exceptionally keen. He'd had to learn to tune a lot of sound out to keep from being overwhelmed. In some circumstances, such as the echoing enclosures of the sewers, it was a detriment. But sometimes, in quiet places, he could hear the heartbeats of vermin or the scuttling of insects living in the walls.

"Good. Then please go back to sleep or whatever it is you do, Rigel."

_He does not control us…. _A wave of what might have been resentment flared from the star. It was hard to tell sometimes because, strictly speaking, the more complex emotions came from Evan's part of their joint being and he was still learning what all of that was about.

_No, but this form is my form, too. And in order for us to not panic people, I need to be in control of it most of the time, okay? You make people nervous because you don't act much like a human, Rigel._

_Then perhaps humans should learn to not fear what is different._ His retort was basically tossed upward as he sank back down.

"Jack, please don't try to tell him what to do. It makes him rebel."

"Great…. That's going to make integrating him into the team a lot more difficult."

"Well… maybe not once we start to merge more. We're… kind of like a coat with its liner only attached at the bottom of the zipper. One thing but not put together for proper functionality sort of." He rubbed at his temples. "Trying to explain it gives me a headache. Even I don't really understand most of it so how am I supposed to explain it?"

Jack stood and came around the desk to hug him. "Hmmm. Strangely I know that sensation." He tilted Evan's face up and gave him a wry smile.

Evan's tension melted away with the touch and the smile. "I suppose you do." He chuckled.

Jack checked the time. "Dinner time. Let's go to the loft, shall we? "

They were trying to alternate day and night shifts as they could. Sometimes they wouldn't have Jules or Stephen in for days if nothing much was happening. But everyone was always on call. It could make having a life challenging at times, but it gave everyone equal opportunity to try, at least.

"Yes. Leftover lasagna is calling." His stomach rumbled agreement. "I need the carbs after all the martial arts practice." He leaned into Jack a little as they headed out.

"We'll be back, Chris."

The tech barely looked up from the circuitry he was repairing for Dani while his information searches ran. "Not like much is going on anyway. And Dani says he'll be in-house most of the time until Tava is to at least fifty percent functional. And that means Keri will most likely be here, too. You might as well relax at the loft. We're up to speed and you're close enough for Dani to nab with the 'porter if we need you faster than you can run or drive."

"Eh, it's not fair to the rest of you. We'll be back."

Jules came up from the medical bay, yawning. "Fair, shmair.," she said. "I say anyone who is within 3 miles should go home." And that would include her. Her little flat was nearby.

"Uh-huh, and you're all for twenty minute naps at lunchtime, too, Jules." Jack snickered.

"Hey, it works for the Japanese." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't stick that thing out at me unless you intend to use it." He gave her a brazenly cheeky look.

Evan elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Hey, you are MINE."

That just made Jules giggle and Chris hid a look of consternation behind his monitor. They weren't exactly officially a couple, but he and Jules had started going to geeky events together and playing massively multi-player online games together. They even had their own coalition in their favorite post-apocalyptic game, Codec Force. But they hadn't said they were boyfriend and girlfriend. They just sort of… hung out. But it still bugged him when the sexual innuendo started flying, which it inevitably did around Jack, and it got Jules in the mix.

"Oh, go on, you two." Jules waved a hand at them. "Shoo! Or I'll start timing and interrupting your ride by ringing your home line every two minutes when you're late getting back." She gave them a humorously snarky look that made them both laugh.

Chris just didn't get it. Jules had just entirely given Jack a clean slate in spite of the way he'd talked to her and the fact that he'd not bothered to apologize. It rankled him. He supposed she just tried not to ruin her own bliss by dwelling on things too much. He hadn't realized he'd let out a huff of breath until she came over and playfully ruffled his hair.

"Oi, what's eating you, Commander?" She'd taken to calling him that since they'd formed their coalition.

He blushed. "Nothing," he lied. "I just hate circuit board work. The solder stinks."

"Mmm. So it does." She gave him a skeptical look, but didn't press. She knew he'd talk in his own good time. "I'd best get back to my work."

He watched her intently as she headed for the gangway that led to the lower levels.

Months of surveillance time wasted and hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair and lost work to his organization hadn't made Ezekiel Cross happy. The contract hadn't been completed and their client was dogging them, threatening to see to it that they all ended up dead. To prove his point, the creepy little shit had taken out one of their way station houses out in D.C. Gas line accident, my ass, he fumed silently as he went over the reports on his desk. He didn't even realize that his meaty fist was bouncing on his desk top in agitation. They way he saw it, he had three choices: finish this contract and deliver Smith, kill the client or vanish off the face of the Earth. He wasn't one for dropping a contract just because it got difficult. But this client busting his balls was on his last nerve. His computer played a sound that indicated he had an incoming voice chat request from the client in question.

"Speak of the Devil," he muttered. He accepted the request. "Cross."

"Mister Cross, I do hope you're in the process of resuming work on our contract?" The distorted voice had a decidedly aristocratic clip to it that sounded almost, but not quite, western European of some sort.

He took in and let out a long, slow breath. When he spoke, his voice held a dangerous edge. "It's in process. However, recovery after the loss of two of our bases is slowing the process."

The man let loose an annoyingly smug chuckle. "Well, sometimes the best way to get stunning action is a burr under the saddle, Mr. Cross. I want a plan of action before month's end or there will be consequences. Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear."

"Excellent. Do have a pleasant evening, Mr. Cross. I'm sure Janice would appreciate you being home in time for dinner."

His eyes widened. How the hell does he know her name?! "Don't you dare…," he breathed.

"Don't give me a reason, Ezekiel." The way he said the name made it all too clear he knew it was an alias. "Your wife is lovely and your daughter is very cute. I'm sure they would be charming house guests…." The chat disconnected as he chuckled vilely.

Travis jumped at the sound of crashing and roaring coming from the administration wing. "Some days I wish I had taken that boring ass job with Micro Sloth…," he muttered and shook his head ruefully as he soldered away at a small green circuit board on his work bench. Nah, not really. He wouldn't get to play with such interesting toys in corporate America. Too many rules to follow. He fondly patted the collar-like device casing he was working on. Far too many rules…..


	11. Slave To The Machine

Travis had driven around the 'burbs fringing the Surprise area of Arizona for hours before he'd found what he needed: a stray dog. He figured that would do for an initial test of the collar he'd built. He'd kind of hoped to find a little pack that had gone feral so he'd have more than one test subject. As it was he'd had to run like hell to catch the stupid fat yellow lab with had the ridiculous moniker of "Sunshine" according to her collar. He never would have guessed the roly-poly mutt could haul ass like that. Now she sat in the back of the van in a crate, whining as he headed out I-10 into the desert. He hoped her head didn't fry or anything. He didn't relish having to make this long drive again to find another animal big enough to test. He supposed he could steal a cow or something if he really had to, but people tended to notice a missing cow or goat before they'd notice a dog that had strayed coming up missing. With all of the Mexican red wolves, mountain lions, javelinas, coyotes and foxes running around the desert it wasn't unusual for some dumb house pet to wander off and vanish. Livestock, on the other hand, was jealously guarded because keeping it alive out here was costly. The dog whined louder and he made a face.

"Oh, shut up and piss in the crate, dog. I'm not stopping just so you can have a pee break." The thought did cross his mind she might need to take a dump, but he'd deal with that as required if it came to that. Otherwise, she could damn well wait until he had to stop to take a leak himself. "I don't see why people like to keep pets. Nothing but a big pain in the ass." He muttered and cranked up the Daft Punk being pumped to the van's speakers from his little MP3 player.

Cross had made it clear that the schedule needed to be stepped up. He wanted them armed and ready to tag Smith again ASAP. He hadn't said why they were still keeping this contract. Travis had assumed he'd drop it considering what it had already cost the group. But now they needed equipment and plans ready to roll by the end of the month or, as Cross had put it, "Every last one of you mother fuckers is going to pay."

So that meant he needed to see if this collar design they'd been given really would first immobilize and then make pliable a living being without killing it. If it did, it would be replacing the drugs which had damn near killed Smith last time. The trick would be getting close enough to snap the thing on the little fruit-bat freak's neck. It wasn't going to be an easy take-down this time. They'd probably be paranoid from that first attempt for a good long time. They would have pulled it off the first time if someone had bothered to let them know Harkness had an alien ship at his disposal. At least that wouldn't be a factor this time. They'd blown the shit out of the thing and it had barely made it out of US airspace without being obliterated entirely. He sighed. It was a shame they hadn't been able to salvage the ship. Who knew what goodies it had aboard? He was sick to death of getting tech in spits and starts from their various clients. He wanted a cache to explore on his own, not hand-me-downs of whatever someone thought was enough.

It was late by the time he finally made it out to the installation. The upper areas looked like a struggling ranch. He drove the van into the big metal barn behind the house and rode the platform down into the receiving bay. He hated the beta location. It was cramped and you never got all the damned desert grit off of everything. It could be hell on electronics. Not to mention the network connections out here sucked ass. Since this was a back-up location, it wasn't as tricked out as the other base had been. As soon as the platform settled he drove down the ramp and parked the van. The dog started barking its fool head off and he scowled.

"Hey, Mendez! Come help me get this stupid mutt offloaded, huh?" He gestured to Grego, who was flopped on some crates reading a porn magazine.

"Get a flatbed, pendejo. Or are your little girly arms too weak to pick up a dog?" At Travis' dirty look, he smirked and hopped off the crates. "What the hell you want with a dog, anyway? You getting lonely down in your lab?"

"Man, shut the fuck up." Travis punched him in the arm. All that got him was a laugh.

"You punch like a chica."

When he had the dog in his lab, he bribed her with part of a hamburger to get her to sit still long enough to click the collar on. She yelped when the needles embedded in the inside of it telescoped out and into her neck. She ran back into the crate and he slammed the door shut. "Now…." He picked up the control module. "Let's see what happens on the lowest setting."

There was an almost sub-sonic hum as the controls and collar lit. He began turning the dial and the dog whined in pain, quivering slightly. A little more and she lay down, still whining. A little more and she was out, but still breathing. He turned it off and she snapped awake like she'd been napping and started barking.

"Oh, shut up!" He cranked the knob back up, a little too far. The dog yelped, convulsed for a second, and then one of her eyes burst as she collapsed. "Shit!" He noted where the tipping point had been.

"You do that to Smith and I'll gut you myself, Travis." Cross stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"It only does that if you jack it up too high. I know the safe range." He hoped it would be consistent anyway. Two tests was hardly a good data set to rely on, especially when they weren't human tests.

Evan was keeping himself so busy that he scarcely had time to think about being restricted and unable to go out alone. He missed feeling safe to wander Cardiff when he was restless and just needed fresh air. When he had nothing else to do and Alex or Keri were at The Hub, he'd train and spar with them. When they weren't there, he was on the firing range. When he wasn't doing that, he volunteered to help Dani work on Tava.

Chris and Stephen had traced back and found that, when Evan was an infant, samples of his blood and flesh had been kept at the hospital he'd initially been taken to. Shortly after the Church took him into custody, those samples went missing and thus began the child being shifted place to place. They were unable to find any clues as to what triggered each move. Jack indicated some of those old stories about the Church having its own secret forces weren't just stories. What concerned him more was why the Church had taken Evan. There was no record of that, either. As far as Jack was concerned, anyone trying to keep possession of a living being was an enemy no matter what they wanted. Evan had to agree. He was no prize to be held and fought over. But he was unsure how to manage living when he was forced to hide.

He never went out without weapons now. He never went out alone. He had no illusions that anyone on the Torchwood team could keep them from taking him. They had shot Jack down and grabbed him last time. They'd just kill Dani or Keri or any of the others. Yet they all were willing to be with him in public. They were all willing to die. But for what? What good would it do? They would die and he would be captured.

He was on the roof of the warehouse, looking up at the stars and listening to their songs when Jack came up and put his arms around him. "Feeling restless?"

He leaned into his warmth, breathing him in. "Yes. How long do I cower in the dark, Jack? What if they come to take me and kill Jules or Dani or any of them? I can't ask them to die for me."

"They would, you know."

"That's what terrifies me. And it wouldn't mean anything, Jack. They'd still take me. If you can't keep them from taking me, who can?"

Jack hugged him gently. "We'll figure something out." He kissed the back of his neck. "In the meantime, I'm taking you out for a walk. Then we'll go get dinner, go see a movie… whatever you want to do." Jack wished, not for the first time, that he could get the place he'd found ready faster. He wanted Evan to have a place that was safe, a refuge. But he didn't really fully comprehend that such a place would just seem a fancier cage to Evan. Jack was practical. You did what needed doing in his universe. That was just how it went.

Evan took a very deep breath and let it out slowly as he considered. Jack, at least, would come back if they killed him. If he stayed cloistered up like this and he lost his mind, it might not so easily recover. He turned and brushed his lips lightly across Jack's. "Alright."

Cross knew that his team would be incredibly lucky to get a clean second shot this soon after their failed attempt. Striking twice like this wouldn't normally be something he would do. He preferred to give it time, so the target would relax, get sloppy, stop being on guard. But he had no choice in the matter. Where before the goal had been 'complete to get paid', now it was 'complete to preserve'. He didn't want to think of what might happen to his wife and daughter if he failed. He vowed he wouldn't have to find out. He was keeping eyes on Smith and Harkness as much as possible, but they had an annoying habit of just vanishing and turning back up again. They'd gone walking in the nearby park and returned. He hadn't followed because he didn't want to risk the boy seeing him. He might be recognized. They got into the SUV parked behind the building and headed off into Cardiff proper.

"Target on the move," he said softly into his headset.

Travis' voice held a hint of irritation as he responded. "I've got them on the CCTV network, but it looks like their tech head's infiltrated the system deep enough now that I have to actively cover my presence every time I access a camera to keep from tipping him off. It's slowing me down a little."

"Do what you can, Travis. Cooper, are you trailing?"

"On it, boss." The man's Southern drawl drew out the last word a little.

"Good." He pulled up GPS on the small computer system strapped into the seat beside him to keep it from sliding around in transit. He started the mid-sized SUV and took a route that would allow him to intercept and take over pursuit when needed. I have to get this done, he thought. There was too much at stake to not get this done.

They trailed them to a movie theater and Cross was impatient as he sat out in the parking lot trying to keep from drawing attention to himself. His anxiety level on this mission was magnified tenfold thanks to the high stakes and he was antsy as hell. When they finally came out of the theater, they took their time about getting to their vehicle. They were holding hands and walked close to each other.

Evan took a deep breath of the air which held the faint salty tang of the bay. He leaned a little against Jack as they walked. "Thank you for this."

Jack gave him the small smile that only those he was very close to ever saw. Evan knew it was a smile backed with deep affection despite its size. "You're welcome."

Evan paused, a sudden flare of passion surging through him. He'd been so out of sorts since the abduction and that had taken a toll on their moments of intimacy. Fear for one's life and constant tension just weren't conducive to good sex. It was telling on both of them and he absolutely hated that those people had wrecked his life to that level. To hell with that, he thought. He didn't want to let them win. He hooked a couple of fingers about Jack's belt and pulled him with him as he leaned against the wall of the theater and kissed him. He let just a whisper of the need in him bleed across, gratified by the little startled and somewhat hungry sound Jack made.

"Not that I'm complaining, but I thought we were going to go eat?"

Evan kissed him again, letting just a trickle more bleed across with the touch of his lips. _Oh, we are. But I thought maybe we could cheat and have dessert first…._

Jack deepened the kiss and wrapped Evan in his arms and coat. When the kiss finally broke, he chuckled. "You definitely don't cheat fair…."

Evan's smile was bright, mischievous and the most genuine he'd shown since they'd gotten him back. "No, I don't."

We might just be okay, thought Jack. Just maybe.

"Ugh…." Cross scowled.

He wasn't homophobic like Travis was. But there were just things he could do without witnessing. Harkness and Smith playing tonsil hockey happened to be one of them. He was less than happy when they got into the back seat of the SUV. He had no doubts what that meant. "Great…." He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. If not for the fairly crowded location, he might be tempted to try and snag Smith while they were distracted, literally catch them with their pants down just to spite them. But it was a Friday and the area around him was a fairly bustling entertainment district. It simply would not work.

Evan was definitely feeling capricious by the time they got to the SUV. His smile was sultry enough to melt ice cubes as he undid Jack's trousers. Tonight, he wanted control. Jack was so thrilled to see a little of the normal Evan that he was more than willing to let him have it.

For his part, Cross was just glad he wasn't close enough to see more than vague movements. They obviously didn't care if anyone saw. He figured they probably got off on the idea of getting caught. He reached into the back seat and pulled forward the little cooler bag Janice and Emily had bought for him to carry snacks in. He sighed. Maybe it was time to figure out a better way to live. This mercenary shit was taking a toll. Emily was getting to an age where the lies about Daddy being a 'special soldier' just weren't going to cut it anymore. The problem with lying was you had to keep constant track of what lies you told when and to whom. He took a bite of the ham sandwich and it tasted like crap. It wasn't good like the ones his sweet baby girl made for him with her own little hands. Yeah, maybe it was time. He wasn't getting any younger and operating under the radar was getting expensive as hell, eating up the profits. But to do that, he had to make sure this client got what he wanted so he wouldn't be on his back anymore.

His mobile burred noisily against the plastic of the center console and he answered it. "Cross."

"Ah, Mr. Cross. Enjoying your evening?"

The distorted voice made the few bites of sandwich turn to stones in his gut. "Not really. I'm a little busy. What do you want?"

"Oh, just to let you know I've taken the liberty of having Janice and Emily as my guests… to keep them safe."

"You son of a bitch…. I told you to leave them alone." Cross' voice was a low growl.

"Now, now. They are perfectly safe. In fact, I'm watching your daughter play dolls at this very moment. She's quite an adorable little child and bright, too. I would hate to have to…."

"You harm one hair on her head and I will rip your dick off and make you eat it, mother fucker!" He had to fight to his voice down. A couple passing near the car were casting glances his way.

"I grow impatient, Mr. Cross. I want my prize. If I don't hear that Smith is in your possession by 12 AM Cardiff time Monday, I will show your little girl how impatient I've become. And I will make your beloved wife watch it."

The hint of vile smile in that voice gave Ezekiel a chill that further soured the food in his belly. "Do it and I will hunt you to the ends of this world and the next."

"Idle threats when you can't even catch one boy and keep hold of him." There was a soft snort. "Your time is running out, Mr. Cross. Tick-tock…."

Cross wanted to hurl the phone as the line went dead, smash it to bits, and tear it apart. The crunch of plastic would have been ever so satisfying. But between his musing and the threatening call, Harkness and Smith had apparently finished their little quickie in the back seat and were on the move again. "Fucking hell…," he muttered as he chucked the phone next to the computer and got ready to follow them.

Travis had busted his ass to figure out a remote way to get the stupid collar on Harkness' little boy toy. He'd dug through the crates of random tech their employer had given them and come up with some nifty little propulsion units that ran silently for the most part. He'd married those to a surveillance drone's chassis, using the weight that saved to rig a launcher and targeting system. If the collar struck just right, it would fling itself shut. And lock on. The needles would go into Smith's neck. The one at the back would give them control while the rest administered the compounds required for the transmission of commands. According to the information he'd been given, he'd be a puppet. This thing was used by some slaver race on another planet. He was just glad they were far away and hoped they weren't interested in Earth as a source for forced minions.

It was Saturday and the district where Harkness and his people were spotted the most was pretty dead. He was up on a roof with a tablet device in hand, piloting his little creation high enough above the cute little chicky-poo and their target that they weren't aware that they were on camera. Too bad they just had to do the grab and run. "Wouldn't mind a little piece of Little Miss Muffett there…." The grin that touched his lips said that, if things went his way, Jules wouldn't enjoy it. He was following them, waiting for the right moment. Cross and the others were nearby, shadowing via his directions.

Jules had come to visit and take him for a walk. She was happy that Evan seemed more relaxed today. She worried about him being cooped up. "Just don't tell Chris you two had a ride in the back of the SUV, okay? We'd never get him in the back seat again." She snickered.

Evan laughed. "I won't say a word. Though the look on his face would probably be really funny."

"No squicking out my favorite straight boy, you." She gave him a playful shove on the shoulder.

He laughed harder. "Are you ever going to pounce him? You two are obviously into each other."

"I will… when I don't think he'd run screaming from just a snog." She grinned wryly.

Up on the rooftop, Travis smirked and muttered, "Seriously, that moron is bypassing the chance to hit that? I don't think he's a straight boy, chicky-poo. You need a real man." He'd seen the girl and that punk tech of theirs with his spiky mess of hair hanging around when Harkness made them fetch and carry for him and his little muffin. They were walking slow enough at the moment that he let the drone hover for a moment to have a sip of the coffee in the big thermal bottle beside him. After a moment, he spun the drone to scan the area. Once they got to the corner and turned it, they'd be in an area where there was no one to see them. All the businesses in that row were closed today and nothing was moving there.

"Travis!" Cross' voice in his ear made him jump. "Stop fucking around and tag him already!"

"Waiting for the right moment, boss…." He grumbled crankily.

The growl that was Cross' reply made his skin crawl. That man was edgier than a long whiskered cat in a tiny electrified cage lately. He wasn't sure what the hell was eating at him, but he definitely wished he'd back down the rage monster a bit. He was a prick most days. Put him in full meathead mode and he was downright piss-tastically unbearable. He didn't need that shit. He just wanted to play with his tech and do whatever and Cross was busting his hump more than was comfortable. Finally the little fairy boy led the way around the corner.

"About damned time…." He took the drone in closer, getting ready to fire off the collar as soon as the shot was clean.

They were heading back around toward the loft when Jules, sharp eyed medic that she was, caught the flick of movement in the side of the mirrored building across from them. It looked kind of like one of Chris' surveillance drones. But those, she knew, made a little noise, faint but still audile. This thing was dead silent. There was nothing but the hum of distant traffic and Evan's voice. Plus, Chris always said something if he was spying. She made as if she was stretching as she walked, pausing to let her head loll a bit so she could get a surreptitious glance at it. Too late, she saw it swoop in. With a squeak of sound, she shoved Evan toward a doorway. The drone cut between them and past.

"Jules!" When he realized what was going on, he snatched her arm and put her into the doorway instead. "It's me they're after and I won't die! You will!"

Before she could try again to get him into the doorway, the thing had spun about and was diving again.

"Ooo, I got you, little boy…." Travis grinned nastily as he hit the control for the collar to launch. It hit home and snapped shut with a satisfying click.

Evan staggered, a cry of pain tearing from his throat as his hands went to the thick band of dull metal enclosing his neck. It was chokingly tight and it was lined with… needles? Yes, he realized, they were painful stinging needles. He felt a strange cold sensation wash through him, starting at the top of his skull and rushing down his spine as if someone had replaced his spinal fluid with iced water. He was panicked and the star inside tried to surface. But Rigel recoiled before he got into place. Something was disrupting him and his voice was garbled and wrong, his song discordant and faint. Evan went to his knees, retching with the effort of the fight to get control of his own body.

Jules was fumbling in her bag for her Torchwood earpiece when the first bullets pinged off of the concrete framing the doorway. She pressed her back tight against the door for a moment and then cursed under her breath. She dove for Evan, jerked him into the doorway and kicked in the door, praying the place had a silent alarm and it would cue Chris something was wrong if he wasn't already aware. They all did these days, didn't they? All the while one hand was seeking out the earpiece and she found it.

"Jules?! Jules?! Oh, please, get your damned earpiece in!"

"Chris! They got something onto Evan's neck…." She was dragging him forcibly back as his convulsing body tried to lurch back outside like a poorly handled marionette. "Evan, quit it!" He got free and moved toward the door at an awkward trot.

Travis was snickering as he made haste to get to ground level, controlling the little fruit loop and dropping the drone through a hatch in the roof of their van as he went. "Now this is some damned fun remote control….."

Cross and Cooper jumped out of the van and went to snag Smith. They weren't expecting the young medic to fire on them. They hadn't even known she was carrying a gun.

"Oh, Jesus!" Chris was frantically trying to get one of his ordnance bearing drones to Jules when the shots sounded over the comms. "DANI! Please tell me you can lock on and 'port them out?!"

"Negative" The word was followed by a string of burbling hisses and clicks he assumed were curses. "Haven't got the parts I need yet and I can't rig anything that won't splatter them like gelatin. Where the hell is Jack?!"

"He's not answering comms."

Stupid ass! Never there when you really need him, is he? Dani punched Tava's bulkhead, making it ring like a bell, and rushed to the sleeping compartment. He'd hoped to not have to use the Vortex Manipulator anymore. It messed with him something fierce, a fact he'd been able to hide for a while. Now, though… every use had the distinct possibility of frying him like so much calamari. He pulled the cursed device out of its case and strapped in on. Before he could activate it, he heard Jules scream amidst the gunfire.

Travis came skidding around the corner as the chicky-poo came charging out of the doorway, gun up. Lucky for them, she wasn't too great of a shot and she had to worry about hitting her friend. Cooper had the luxury of just firing as he pleased. While he did that, Travis helped Cross get their target into the van. Damn, Harkness and his people were useless. He patted Smith on the cheek as he shoved him down between seats.

"Sit and be a good doggy so I don't have to kick you."

While there was definitely fire blazing in those brown eyes which made them go a bit golden, Evan could do nothing but comply. Inside he raged like a maddened elephant, but he was unable to find his chains to snap them. His body shivered faintly from his efforts and nothing more. Not even Jules' scream of pain was enough for him to break the hold of the collar on his mind. It told his body to follow orders and his body obeyed. He had already tried to reach out his mind to Jack, to anyone, and it was akin to bashing his skull into a wall. He was all scrambled and nothing functioned as it should.

No, he thought. Please, no. Not Jules… not for me. Oh, Jack, where are you? Please… You have to come. Please…. He bitterly thought of how useless the gun at his back was to him when he'd not seen the danger until too late and now couldn't move so much as an eyelid. He'd simply not had enough time to improve his skills and paranoia was not a state he could live in full time and still stay sane. And now Jules was paying for his lack of skill. Misery crept over him. He might have cried, but no one told him to, so he couldn't.

Finally, Jack's voice came over the comms. He'd just been coming out of the bathroom at the loft when he heard the emergency chirp of his earpiece from the dresser. "Chris? What the hell is going on?"

"Where the hell have you been, Jack?!" Chris yelled.

"Showering…."

"They've got Evan and Jules is hit!" He managed to choke out the street names around a sob.

"I'm hopping, Jack." Dani muttered. "Get your ass moving!"

But things happened too fast. By the time they managed to get there, Cross and his men were speeding away with no one in pursuit. Chris was so freaked out that he couldn't think clearly. Dani was beside Jules when Jack finally got there. Unlike Dani, Jack's VM was deader than a door nail thanks to the Doctor and he'd had to drive.

"Where's Evan?!"

"Dammit, Jack! This lass's bleeding out and that's all you can say?! Bastard!" He spat the words like venom as he jerked the emergency aid kit Jack had from his hand and popped it open. "Selfish… faw-king… bah-stard!" The syllables punctuated him tearing open packets of bandages.

"Please… don't yell." Jules was pale and shaking. "I won't… die…. It… I think… missed the major artery." She made a choked sound of pain. The agony was crushing, like having had a meteor slam into her shoulder, shattering it and burning it to cinders. "I… I'm sorry, Jack. I… tried. I did…. Shot and everything…." She bit down on a whimper, hating how weak she sounded.

Jack's guts were twisted into knots. Once again, Evan was gone and things had gone far south at maximum warp. And here lay Jules in a pool of her own blood with Dani yelling at him over her. It took a great force of will for him to kneel beside her and help Dani pack the wound so they could move her.

"Jack?! Is she…? God…. Is she…?" Chris' words trailed off in horror.

"She's alive, Chris."

"Stephen wants to know if he should go to you or be waiting in surgery…."

"Surgery…," Jules said groggily. "Alarms, Jack…. Need to get out of here…." She gestured with her good arm at the door she'd kicked in and the damaged windows. "Bound to have heard the gun…, too." Her shots, unlike those of their attackers, hadn't been silenced. "Going to need someone to be hands… for Stephen…. Can't work on myself…."

Chris blinked. Shit. He frantically pulled up the things he'd been too freaked out to pull up before. "She's right, Jack. Police are incoming. If you don't want to waste time answering questions, you'd better bug right now."

Dani finished tying off the bandages around Jules' shoulder. "Don't you worry any, duckie. I'll be the doc's hands, right? That way you won't have to worry about anyone sneaking a grope, hey?" The look he flicked at Jack was toxic, withering. "Let's get her in the truck, Captain." He said the last word so that it was like a slap.

Jack's jaw muscles tightened, but he helped him lift her. "It's okay, Jules. You did everything you could and that's all I ask. This isn't your fault."

"Saw it…. Should have… moved faster." Her head was drooping on her neck.

"Shhhh… shhhh…. Don't talk, duckie. You save your strength now." Dani slid into the back seat with her, patting her bloody hand gently.

The tires squealed as Jack got them out of there with all due haste.


	12. Together In This

Jack's mood was dark enough with Evan being snatched once more. Add to it Dani's snappish comments and it was making things far worse. He had no idea what had gotten into the cephalopod, what had stirred up his ire. He was barely reining in his own temper. But he knew that right now he needed a clear head. His first order of business was to make sure that Jules got the care she required. Dani carried the unconscious young medic down to the med bay where Stephen was already scrubbed up and waiting.

"Jack, I… I'll need…." Seeing Jules pale and covered in blood was startling and it rattled him.

"I'll be your hands, doctor. Be right back." Dani deposited Jules on the surgical gurney and then went into the scrub room to get into sterile gear.

Jack put a hand on Stephen's shoulder. "She'll be okay. Dani's very dexterous and takes direction well when it counts. You'll fix her up. I have to get the rest of the team mobilized. Keep me posted, okay?" The look in his eyes was concern tinged with fear that, once again, being near him was visiting death upon yet another person he cared about.

Stephen nodded. "I will. You go find Evan." He made a shooing sort of gesture before turning to wheel Jules into the surgical suite.

Jack sucked in a deep breath and headed up the ramp. He found Chris at the top of it, looking pale and shell-shocked. He paused and looked into the computer tech's eyes. "Chris, I need you to focus right now, okay? It's important. Stephen will get her patched up. You know he will."

He blinked slowly. "You sure she's not going to…."

"I'm positive, okay? She's not going to die. She's way too spunky." He hoped the smile was more reassuring than it felt. "Right now, I need you to help me find out where they took Evan, please. I need you to focus on that for me."

He seemed to swallow a massive lump in his throat as he nodded vaguely. "Yeah… Evan." He turned and returned to his console, moving somewhat robotically.

Alex and Keri came up from the lower levels bearing weapons cases. "It appears to be the same group as before, Jack," the big man rumbled as the case he carried thumped loudly to the floor, making Chris jump a little.

"Yeah." Chris murmured. He pulled up CCTV footage on the big screen, zooming in on the face of Ezekiel Cross. Another image, this one scalped from the surveillance footage from the base in the Badlands, came up beside the first. "It's the same team leader. This guy was also there." He pulled up an image of Cross' tech, Travis. "The rest are new."

Jack glowered at the two men on the screen. "Any idea where they went?"

Chris looked ashamed. "I… I lost them, Jack. I was so worried about…." He had to bite off a choking sound.

Jack took a deep breath and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Find them, okay?" He straightened. "Keri, are you familiar enough with Tava's systems to calibrate a scan?"

"If the scanners are online, yes. I don't know if Dani finished them yet or not."

"Then let's go see, shall we? It would make things go faster if we could do a full planetary scan for Evan's energy signature or anything else we can pinpoint to track him by."

"We won't be able to use the earpiece. Its GPS signal was lost while they were grabbing him. They must have crushed it or jammed it."

Jack blew out a sharp huff of breath as they moved along. This time they wouldn't be able to run them down as they had last time. He might have to go take Dani's Vortex Manipulator and carry Alex and Keri with him. When they got to the docking bay and Keri powered up Tava's sensory array, it wasn't exactly perfect. The readings fluctuated a lot before settling down.

Keri scowled. "Nothing on the initial scans." She noted the look on Jack's face. "I'm going to recalibrate and try again. I think it's still not quite right." Please let this work, she thought desperately. He is so close to going over the edge…. She rapidly adjusted settings on the sensors and then grinned. "Damn, I'm good…." She clarified the images. "There's a trace of his energy signature in a warehouse on the docks." She tugged her small Torchwood tablet device from her jacket and synched it to Tava's scans.

The console beeped as Chris took over the scans. His spoke to them over their ear pieces. "I'm boosting the scans. It's… a van in a warehouse, Jack. It's a very small spot. I don't think he's still there."

"But it's better than nothing. Let's move."

It was only minutes before the team and their gear were piled into two SUV's. Alex drove the one with their equipment. Keri rode with Jack. She was clinging to the "oh shit" handle so hard that her knuckles were white. She kept wanting to bark warnings at him as he wove in and out of traffic dangerously.

"Jack," Chris said over the open channel. "I can only make the lights green so fast. If you have a wreck you won't be doing anyone any good."

"Then I suggest you keep those fingers flying, Chris…."

The set of Jack's jaw was grim and his eyes held a hardness Keri knew didn't live there often. Oh, fly those digits fast, kid…. Her teeth ground together as they hurtled toward the back of a big lorry stopped at a light ahead of them. Her eyes squeezed shut and her breath caught in her chest. She expected the next sensation to be one of crashing. Instead, the sensation was one of lurching to the side and bumping as Jack went around the lorry and jumped a curb. "Jesus, Jack!"

"What? I missed." He didn't even look at her. He was too busy plotting his course through the traffic heading into the port district.

They came to a halt outside of the warehouse in question and piled out. The doors were locked and Jack kicked in the one that led into the office area. They went quickly through and found no one. The white van sat in the middle of the empty warehouse. Its side door was open and Jack and Alex approached as Keri scanned.

"I'm not picking up anyone or anything in the immediate area, Jack."

Jack leaned into the van and raked his eyes over the interior. There, on the floor, he caught a faint ripple in his vision. He'd seen it before when Evan had bled. To him, it was a pulse just faintly visible. It meant the blood was still fairly fresh, but it was getting tacky. "He can't be far…." It wasn't a lot of blood. They wanted him alive. He had to be okay. It repeated in his mind like a mantra. Come on, Evan. One thought. That's all I need.

"Jack, I'm sending you coordinates. I found falsified records on a ship's manifest and ownership records. They're getting ready to weigh anchor. I figure that's where he is."

"But we're not picking anything up…." Keri scowled.

"I'm looking at the ship itself on a tight sweep. It's got some weird tech inside that isn't showing up in the database. Trust me, it has to be them."

They were moving as they spoke, Jack pulling ahead and Alex trying to keep up. He was bulkier than Jack and not quite as fast. He tapped his earpiece so he was talking only to Keri. "You're faster than me. Don't let him get off by himself. He's not thinking clearly."

She gave him a signal of acknowledgement as she tore around a corner ahead, hot on Jack's heels. When they got there, the ship was already pulling away from its dock. "Shit…." Her eyes scanned quickly. "Jack! The crane! If we hurry…."

They scrambled up the crane to where the cab was. The operator opened his mouth and shut it quickly as Jack's Webley snapped up into his face. He flashed his psychic paper at the man. "CCP business! I need you to get us onto the deck of that ship!"

"Uh, I… it's against regulations, sir…." The man was young and looked about ready to pee himself. This sort of thing was definitely out of his realm of normalcy.

"You'll not lose your job over this. Do it!"

When Alex popped up onto the platform, he nearly did wet himself. He nodded shakily. "There's a flat, sir." He gestured. "If you and your people get on it, I can swing you over if you hurry."

Jack grinned and clapped him in the shoulder. "Good man. We thank you for your cooperation." The three of them slid down the safety rails and dashed to the framed flat which would normally be used to lift or lower crated goods. "Flatten out on it. Use the tie-down loops to hang on."

Once they were all on, he waved to the operator and the flat lurched up.

Travis let out a short snarl. "Son of a bitch!" He keyed on his comms. "We have a problem, Cross. Harkness and his people are about to come aboard."

"What?!"

"They're coming over on a freight lift." He hit the alarms.

Cross opened full comms. "Gentlemen, we have guests. Assemble topside on the main deck. Rivera and Timmers, you stay with the cage."

The cage was in the mostly empty cargo hold. The interior of the ship had been lined with a material which would mask the boy's presence. Cross was well and duly pissed. They shouldn't have been able to track them at all. Yet here they were. He stormed up onto the deck as the platform swung across. Once the thing was coming in over the deck, Jack stood, followed by Alex, both of them looking rather intimidating. Keri didn't dare try stand until they were on the ground for fear a gust of wind might sweep her slighter frame over the side.

"Captain Harkness, I don't recall inviting you aboard," called Cross.

"Yeah? Well, I don't recall announcing open season on my loved ones." The moment his Webley tracked onto Cross' forehead, a dozen automatic rifles were on him and his team.

"I didn't call open season on mine, either, Harkness. So, pardon the pun, but we're in the same boat. Only I have more guns and you're cut off from your support on the boat."

Jack narrowed his eyes at Cross as the platform touched down and they stepped from it. The operator sounded his alert and began swinging it back up before the moving ship could hit it and damage his crane.

"It won't matter. I'm leaving here with Evan."

"No, you're not. The lives of two depend on that one getting to the one who wants him."

"Why the hell should we care, asshole?" Keri smirked

Ezekiel's voice was almost a snarl. "Because one of them is a little girl, you stupid bitch!"

"Hey, I'm a very smart bitch, thank you very much!"

"Enough!" Jack shot her a filthy look. "Take me to Evan and maybe we can figure out a mutually beneficial arrangement after you explain to me how a little girl got tangled up in all of this mess."

Cross considered for a moment. "Disarm them." He gestured and his men moved forward. "You want to go to the boy? Drop your weapons."

"Jack…" Alex was tense beside him.

"Do what he says. We'll work this however we have to." He said it so that only they could hear. He set the gun on the deck and the others followed suit reluctantly. Their weapons and communications devices were gathered up and they were marched below decks.

In the hold, Rivera was pacing nervously. Timmers snorted at him. "You need to lay off the espresso, man."

"Something about that kid… he's fucking creepy."

"You're just full of old ghost stories from your grandma."

"Fuck you, man…."

"Not my type, big boy." Timmers snickered and Rivera punched him in the arm as he paced past him. "Ow! Damn, you got no sense of humor…." He rubbed his bicep.

A metallic sound made them both pause and fall quiet, eyes moving to where Evan was huddled on the floor of a cage. He was hugging his knees and there was a strange glassy glint where his eyes were, pupils so wide in the dim light that they seemed to be black mirrors.

_Rigel?_ Evan was nauseous and felt weak. He'd tried to fight as they took him from the van and ended up with a geyser of blood from his nose as pain flared through his skull like a bolt of lightning. It had made his vision burn white before it put him on his knees. But it had also allowed him to evaluate how the collar was interacting with his mind when he did it purposely and not instinctively.

_I am here._

But the voice seemed so weak, so far away. _I think… maybe… if we can work together, we can break the hold this thing has on us._

_Perhaps. It will hurt._

_It hurts anyway, so it won't make a difference._

_I will try to find my way up._

_And I'll try to meet you. _

Before they could do anything, however, a hatchway at the far end clanged open and a faint whisper echoed in the hold, his name spoken by a familiar voice.

_Jack… they have Jack. Oh, no._ If Jack was captured, then it was going to be up to them to get them all free.

Cross' men herded them forward and Jack felt a little sick seeing that collar on Evan's neck. A slaver's control collar on his Evan… it made a slow bubble of fury drift up from his core. "Get that damned thing off of him…."

"You're in no position to make demands, Harkness. And I'm not insane enough to take that controller off of him. I was warned about the kind of crazy shit that boy might be able to do."

Jack took a deep breath. "You know my name. If we're going to talk like gentlemen, I should at least know yours."

Cross gestured them toward a table and chairs off to one side. "The name's Cross. Ezekiel Cross."

"An alias."

Cross nodded. "As much as yours is… Captain." He filled the title with scorn, indicating he knew Jack had no real right to the rank.

"Look, at least let him say something to me, so I know he's okay. Otherwise, I have no reason to try and help you, Ezekiel."

Cross sighed and keyed on his comms. "Travis, let your puppet have his motor control, but leave the rest locked down." Suddenly Evan jerked, gasped, made a half strangled sound and started to cough. Weapons snapped up as Jack tried to move toward the cage. "Ah-ah. Stay put. Sit."

Evan struggled to his feet, moving rather like a newborn foal, unsure of how to work his legs. He moved to the side of the cage facing the group. "Jack?" His voice sounded wrong, hoarse, grating and muffled.

"Yeah." Jack's voice was strained. "I'm here."

"I'm sorry…."

Jack cut him off. "You've nothing to be sorry for."

"Jules?"

"She's alive."

"That's enough. Lock him down again."

Evan jerked again, letting out a pained, gagging sound and it was all Jack could do to stay seated. He moved back to the corner he'd been in, his motions unnatural and lacking his normal grace.

_Do not fight it so much, monkey child. You only make it hurt more. When we are working together we will fight it._ Rigel's voice seemed closer than it had been, but still weaker than he was accustomed to.

_I can't help it…. _He was panting raggedly.

_Slow your breath. Take air deep. Hear our song._

Evan felt an odd warmth deep down in his core. In the dark imposed upon his mind he saw faint tendrils of light. _Is that… you, Rigel?_

_Yes. We must try to join. Slowly. Carefully._

_I'm ready._ For Jack. We have to do this so we can save Jack….

_No. We do this for us_

Jack's blue eyes darkened with anger. "You're hurting him."

Travis' voice came over the intercom. "Technically speaking it only hurts him if he fights against the control unit. It's like being handcuffed. If you relax, it doesn't hurt you."

"You have no clue what you're even playing with. I've seen those things before. I know exactly what they do and how much pain they cause."

Cross smirked, seeing Evan sitting quietly in the corner of the cage. "Looks fine to me." He settled in a chair across from Jack. "So, tell me what you think you have to offer me, Harkness."

"I said we'd talk **after** you tell me how a kid got involved." Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

Cross blew out a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Jack. "I had no idea this client knew where my family was. I'm careful. I keep things separate. I move them a lot. But he's got them. My little girl is only five. He's threatened to torture her." The faint twitch of his nostrils was the only real sign of his barely contained rage, but it was noted by Jack, Keri and Alex. "That's the only reason I came for the boy again. I was going to let this contract lapse and call it equal considering the financial damages we took because our illustrious client neglected to tell us you had an alien craft at your disposal. Then he pulled this shit." He rubbed at his face, feeling weary.

Jack looked at Keri and Alex, one eyebrow cocked. They gave barely perceptible nods. He took a deep breath. "We could help you. But you have to take that collar off of him."

"No deal. He thinks anything weird is going on, he'll kill them. He's already said so. That collar has to stay on unless he orders it removed. Until I have them safe, I play by his rules."

"Where is this exchange supposed to happen?"

"Chicago. They're supposed to meet us at the docks for the exchange."

"Then there'll be a chance for us to take him back after." Alex said. "Let me guess, your… client wants him alive?" His deep voice seemed to roll back and forth across the hold like a rumble of thunder. Cross nodded. "Then they won't kill him."

Keri scowled. "Maybe, but who says this jackass will play fair? What if he just decides it might be fun to sic his dogs on us by pulling a double cross? Who says the wife and kiddy will actually be there on the docks? Then he can just use them to control you, have you rip us apart. And then just keep you on a chain. Sounds like the kind of asshole thing a coward who pays other people to do his dirty work would do. He must be some corporate schmuck."

"If they aren't there, I'm going to put that bastard in a world of hurt."

Jack was listening with his eyes half closed, a thumb tracing back and forth along his jaw. "Well, it's a slow boat to Chicago, so we have time to make a plan for every option we can come up with." He stood and all of Cross' men pointed their weapons at him. He held his empty hands out. "Relax. I'm not an idiot. You have my weapon and my loved one. I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just need to move a little."

"He's not going anywhere. Locked in here, they can't go anywhere. But, I'm giving you a choice. Either you avail yourselves of all of your remaining weapons and devices or I can have my men strip you buck ass naked to make sure we get them all. Make your choice carefully because you will be scanned."

Jack shot a pointed look at Keri who was making an extremely sour face. He knew she probably had at least as many hidden weapons as Alex, maybe even more. Per the usual, Alex was perfectly Zen, unflappable and unreadable. It irritated Jack that he was so hard to read. It meant he was sometimes very unpredictable. Jack didn't particularly like surprises unless it was something special for Evan. Good luck with that when you were living with a telepath.

"You might want to let me contact the rest of my people, Ezekiel. Otherwise it could be trouble. Plus, it might be helpful if I can work with them to set up some backup for Chicago."

Cross pursed his lips slightly. "I'll let you. As soon as we've got all the frequencies you're transmitting across so you can't pass secret love letters."

"Paranoid?"

Cross snorted, looking somewhat amused. "No, just cautious and already twice burned."

Chris had heard everything up to the point their earpieces were taken. "Bugger… what do I do now? That's everyone but our little cover flakes upstairs in the warehouse." He licked his lips like a cat that had a snoot full of something it didn't like. He keyed on the channel that would feed to the medical labs. "Dani, Stephen… they've been captured. All three of them."

Dani paused from stitching up Jules long enough to pop a tentacle up to key on his earpiece. "Just sit still and don't fidget, lad. We're almost done stitching your rainbow duckie up. Then we'll figure out what to do, right? For now, you just keep track of where they are. Right?" He kept his tone light and conversational even though what he most wanted to do was throttle Captain Jackass Harkness. If he got Keri killed, there wouldn't be enough immortality in the whole damned universe to bring him back from what would be done to him.

"Right… okay." Chris cut the channel and leaned back in his seat, nervously chewing on his finger nails as he watched the freighter _Casperides_ slipping further and further out to sea on the sensors. He let out a long slow breath and rubbed at gritty eyes. He wished he could just go home and crawl into bed. He had a notion that it was going to be a long, sleepless week ahead.

Once they had Jules resting comfortably, Dani stripped out of the sterile gear, washed the blood away, reclothed himself in his own flesh and headed up to the pit. "Jules'll be fine. Doc says I did a fine job of stitching and she'll hardly even have a scar in a few months. "

Chris swallowed visibly. "Thank you." The reply was soft but the relief in his voice couldn't have been clearer.

"Now, play back what you've got."

He cued up the recorded transmissions. "Once they're in international waters, we're on our own." Not that the Royal Navy or any of the other government resources were usually at their disposal unless the whole world was going to sod.

Dani chuffed derisively. "This is Torchwood. We're always on our bloody own." He listened to the recordings, his scowl deepening all the while. By the time he reached the end of it, the comms beeped on the priority channel.

"It's Jack…." Chris pulled it up on the big screen.

"Ah, good, I was hoping I'd catch you before you took off on a tear."

"I leave that to you, Jack." Dani narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway," Jack gave him a hard look. "As soon as you can, you need to settle Jules with her parents in Swansea. After that, You, Chris and Stephen are to pack your bags and any gear you think we can use for a covert operation. We'll be dealing with alien technology, so prepare accordingly. Once you're ready, contact Emory Jakes out at the airport. He'll set you up with transport to Chicago on my tab. There'll be a man named Hollis picking you up from the airport state-side. He'll hook you up with some people who will get you settled into a base of operations. I'll be in touch to let you know what to do."

Dani wanted to chew at him for just barking orders and expecting them to blindly follow. Instead he just leaned in closer to the camera. "Just you know, Jack, you get her killed and I'll kill you so dead so many times in a row you'll never come back from it."

Jack took a deep breath. "I'll do my best to make sure we all come back alive."

Stephen was standing at the top of the gangway that led to the lower levels when Dani closed the channel. "Oh, yes, he does a dandy job bringing them back alive. In one piece is a debatable point." He ran a hand through his silver peppered-hair. "You know I only had two grey hairs when I signed on. Now look at me." He huffed. "Well, I'd best go get supplies gathered. I'll have to leave some things with Jules' parents as well as stocking up for collateral damage."

"Regular pack of sunshine we are…." Chris followed Stephen down. He needed to see Jules for himself before he would truly believe she wasn't going to die.

Dani leaned his butt against the console and rubbed at his face vigorously before forwarding an info feed to the waterproof unit in his tank downstairs. He strode down the gangway. "Oi, you two. I need tank time if I'm going to be of use. I'll be below," he called out as he passed the medical labs.

By the time he had all of the initial arrangements made, Jack was feeling tired. Cross had sat there listening to both sides of the several conversations it took to set all of it into motion. Jack finally handed his mobile back to the man and sighed. "What would it take for you to let me into that cage and give him back his motor control for a bit?"

Cross leaned back, studying him intently. "Strip down naked, submit to a cavity search and go in with nothing but a blanket. And if you think you're getting any private time? Forget about it."

Jack gave him a very dark look. "You seriously think that's what I'm worried about right now? Has anyone ever told you you're a jerk?"

"Every day of the week. Those are the terms."

"Well then I suggest you pick someone to wear the rubber gloves."

Twenty minutes later, they had Alex and Keri locked in another cage and Jack stepped into Evan's with one blanket around his hips and another in his hands. He quickly moved to kneel beside Evan and, once again, when his motor control was given back, he choked, gasped and convulsed a little, pained sounds escaping him. Jack pulled him gently into his arms and pinned down his arms as he tried to claw at the thing around his neck.

"Easy, sweetheart.," he whispered against his curls. "I've got you. Shhhhh."

"Pl… please, Jack. It hurts. Please take it off…."

"I know it hurts, but if I try to take it off without the right key, it'll detonate and take your head off." The weakness in his voice was very concerning. "Hey, can one of you people get him something to eat, please? If he doesn't eat every few hours, he's going to end up sick on you like he did last time."

"We don't exactly have 5-star accommodations here." Cross smirked from where he was reading at the small table.

"I need something high carb, with some protein. Nothing fancy. Some spaghetti, maybe?"

"More like Spaghetti-O's, man. That's about the best you're going to get."

"It'll do."

Cross had a big can of the glop heated up and passed to them. Jack sat Evan up in the corner. "Think you can eat?"

"I don't know." He whispered. "I feel so sick. It's… pushing Rigel." He shivered violently.

"I know . Think of it like a Chinese finger puzzle. The more you fight, the tighter it clamps down. Just try to relax as much as you can and do things slow and easy." He scooped up a small bite of the food. "Now, try this little mouthful."

It took several tries and Evan almost gagged on the stuff, but eventually he was able to eat. He coughed softly, voice a hoarse whisper. "Least he could have done is give me Mini Raviolis or the kind with the meatballs. I hate Spaghettio-O's with hot dogs in them." He made a face.

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers." Jack smoothed a sweat dampened lock of hair from his face. The container was large enough to give them both a half decent meal out of, so he alternated bites with him.

"Guess not." He shivered again. "I heard Alex and Keri, didn't I?"

"Yes. Dani, Stephen, Jules and Chris are back at the Hub."

"They need to eat, too."

He caught Keri's look over the top of Evan's head and feared she might lose it. He gave her a firm, but gentle look and she dropped her head onto her knees. Alex seemed to be meditating with his eyes closed. "I'll make sure they do, sweetheart."

It wasn't too long before Cross had sandwiches brought for the other two. Not long after that, Evan had eaten as much as he could stomach and Jack stretched out with him huddled close. He knew one thing for certain. No matter how bad things got, Cash would do whatever it took to make sure this mission was completed with minimal loss.


End file.
